Friendship, Love and Rivalry
by Princess Tiger
Summary: Ash helps one of his Sinnoh rivals on the way home, which leads to him competing in the Indigo League against her sister, and being given chance to compete and train for the Champions League, with the winner being granted title of Master. Can he do it?
1. A New Friend

Friendship, Love and Rivalry

Welcome, fellow fanfiction people! Yes, I, Princess Tiger have re-wrote Chapter 1. Why? Because I think I can improve it, in my opinion the first few chapters are rather sloppy in comparison with my usual standard of work, so these will be rewrote too. You want to know what this story is about? I don't really know as such. I have a general idea for the plot (and a great ending too) but we'll have to see where this goes, anyway, enough blabbing, time for the improved (hopefully) Chapter !.

Disclaimer: You all know I don't own Pokémon, if I did, would I be stuck doing my GCSE's? I don't own Mr. Men either, or anything else mentioned in this chapter, or story.

Chapter 1 – A New Friend

Brock sighed inwardly, this journey back through Sinnoh the long, scenic way was a good idea, at first. Except when he made the plans, he didn't realise this meant he'd be stuck with two moody teenagers. After losing to the Sinnoh League Champion, Ash was not happy, to say the least, in fact place him next to Little Miss Sunshine in his current mood and you would have polar opposites. Dawn was not much better, she had lost in the Sinnoh Grand Festival, and was almost as despressed as Ash. And to make matters worse, they appeared to be lost, in the Eterna forest, just great. Bored with the familiar and rather repetitive sight of identical trees, Brock went back to analyzing his friends. Ash had seemed fine just after the match, but now on his way home to Pallet, his feeling of self-remorse had returned. Ash didn't like the fact he'd lost to a girl, who not dissimilar to Misty in some respects. Even at the age of seventeen, Brock was still positive that Ash still believed in the 'girl germs' thing, much like his younger siblings, who had recently developed such traits, after starting primary school. Brock, even though he wouldn't admit it, had a slight crush on the Sinnoh Champion, Nika, but this was mainly based off of the fact she looked a little like Jasmine, the Kanto Champion, who, in Brock's opinion was far prettier. The reason Dawn was wallowing in self-pity was a little more understandable, after hours of training, she had suffered a spectacular defeat in the final to none other than her rival, Zoey. After having to drag the two out of their respective rooms, Brock had suggested they head back to Pallet, via Twinleaf of course. The awkward silence was broken, when Dawn stopped and pointed to something up ahead.

"Is that someone tied to a tree?" Sure enough, as they approached, the object became easily distinguishable as a human being, albeit, one they recognised too, by the waves of long dark green hair that fell beyond her shoulders. Nearing closer, they saw she had been gagged with a piece of ragged cloth.

"Nika?" The woman, looked up as her name was mentioned, and her eyes showed signs of relief at the three acquaintances of hers. Taking out his pocket knife, Brock slashed the ropes that tied her to the tree. Removing her gag, she smiled up at Brock and Dawn, and then looked over at Ash, who was still sulking at the rear of the group.

"Thanks," she responded. "I must have been there for about an hour."

"What happened?" Brock inquired.

"Oh, Team Galactic stole my pokémon again, but no worries, I just need to go to Eterna and get them back."

"Can we come with you?" Brock pleaded, hoping for some company that was vaguely cheerful.

"Sure, we need to go the Pokémon Centre first though."

"Right, come on Ash, Dawn, we're going this way now," Brock gestured back the way they had come from, causing Nika to give him a curious look,

"Where are you going, Eterna's this way." She pointed in the direction she was facing.

"Oh, no wonder we were lost," Brock chuckled.

**~**

After arriving at the Pokémon Centre, Nika had sprinted to the front of the queue for the video-phones, ignoring the disgruntled trainers waiting in line, once she had got through though, they seemed more interested in eavesdropping on her conversation,

"Nika, slow down, what did you say?"

"Adam, Team Galactic. They stole my pokémon, again," she repeated, articulating each word as loudly as possible.

"Again? Man, those guys never give up, so what do you want me to do?"

"Send over Geoffrey and Gengar."

"Geoffrey and Gengar, right, one sec." He turned away from the screen, and yelled out for someone by the name of Dominic to go get Nika's pokémon.

"Thanks Adam, you're a wonderful cousin, how was the honeymoon?" Nika questioned Adam, in an attempt to engage in some small talk before Dominic came back,

"It was good thanks, though not as memorable as the reception."

"Ha, of course, poor Riley will regret tha- Oh!" She exclaimed as the two pokéballs appeared on the pad beside her. "Well they're here now, so tell Professor Rowan and Dominic I say 'Hi'!"

"Sure Nika, I'll see you when you get back to Twinleaf!"

"Sure see you!" Shoving the ball in the pockets of her dress, Nika dashed over to where Ash and Dawn were watching Brock be dragged away by his Croagunk, their faces showing a look of pity for their friend, but their eyes showed they were actually finding it a little amusing. Leading them through the streets of Eterna, Nika brought the group to an alley beside a rather ominous looking building which she confirmed as the Galactic Eterna Branch. Releasing her Gengar, Nika then began to give it a small briefing, while the others were gawping at it, for her Gengar, was no ordinary one, it was black, not purple, and this trait alone made it seem so much more sinister looking. Add that to the fact it was at least a foot taller than your average Gengar and you learn that this is quite an extraordinary specimen. After Nika had finished, Gengar disappeared through the wall, leaving Nika, Brock, Dawn and Ash in the alley. The group waited in silence, anticipating Gengar's return any moment. Sure enough, the mysterious pokémon reappeared and communicated with Nika over the stolen pokémon's location using psychic powers Ash's pokédex didn't even know a Gengar could possess. Taking her other pokéball from her pocket, Nika then edged along the wall towards the dead end of the alley, indicating for the others to do the same. At the end of the alley was a small door, a concealed entrance to the Galactic building, through which, Nika boldly stalked through. They were now in a long grey corridor, lit dimly by fluorescent lights overhead. Focused on finding their destination, Dawn Brock and Nika were oblivious to Ash, who was bringing up the rear, as he prodded an elegant Ho-oh statue. Immediately the lights began flashing red and loud whirring alarms echoed through the desolate corridor.

"Intruder Alert, Intruder Alert," a monotone voice sounded over the loudspeakers. Wirling around, Dawn caught sight of Ash, who was blatantly at fault, since he was still mere inches from the Ho-oh statue.

"Ash!" she hollered. "What did you go do that for?"

"Errm I-" He was interrupted by Nika's frustrated cry

"Never mind that, let's get outta here!" She dashed down the corridor, the others hot on her heels, until she reached the small door of a broom cupboard, picking up on her implication, the quickly darted inside, just speedy enough to avoid the Galactic guards that had come careening around the corner. Several minutes went by in silence, as the guards had obviously gone to search another part of the building. Poking their heads round the door, Ash and Nika checked to see if the coast was clear, before cautiously tip-toeing out onto the corridor, pokéballs at the ready. Leading the group through a maze of corridors, Nika surprised them by actually knowing her way around, a reason for which she had promised to provide the curious Dawn with once they escaped. They came across a locked door, which required a code to open.

"Ash," Nika whispered. "Do you think you can get Pikachu to give this lock a small jolt of electricity, it should open then?"

"Sure, Pikachu, you heard what she said." Jumping off his master's shoulder Pikachu landed on the floor almost inaudibly. Sending out a bolt of yellow electricity nothing more than a millimetre or so thick, the lock gave out a odd hissing sound and the door swung open.

"Wait here," Nika instructed, as she crept into the room, where six pokéballs lay unguarded on a heavy steel table, she snatched them without hesitation, forcing Dawn to take two since she already had to many, then taking out the pokéball from before they ran back along the corridors, towards the exit . As she had anticipated, a gang of guards blocked their door, preventing their escape.

"Ah Nika, how did we know it was you?" The senior guard hollered at her sarcastically.

"How could you not?"

"You really are quite mouthy aren't ya? Too bad I'll have to fix that, Crobat go!"

Nika sighed and rolled her eyes, "Haven't you realised by now that you can't beat me? I mean, I'm the Sinnoh Champion for God's sake." Then she half-heartedly threw the pokéball in her hand,

"Well Geoffrey, looks like I'll choose you." A loud roar echoed through the narrow corridor, as Nika's huge Gyrados appeared,

"Now Geoffrey, use Thunderbolt on these buffoons so we can get outta here!" He roared in response and electrocuted not only Crobat, but the entire squadron of guards too, with enough power to rival Pikachu (though not as much, of course). Returning Geoffrey, Nika carefully picked her way across to the door, avoiding standing on any of the unconscious, singed guards.

**~**

After sending Geoffrey back to Professor Rowan, Nika had requested for Dawn to take care for Gengar for a while, since she was tagging along with the others on their way back to Twinleaf, that being her home town. After several more minutes talk, the group had established they were all heading back to Kanto too, which was the current topic of conversation, as they travelled through the Eterna forest again.

"So Nika, why are you going to Kanto again?"

"To watch my sister in the Indigo League."

"Really? Has she competed before?"

"Of course she has, she's Champion."

"_Jasmine's _your sister?" Brock sounded practically delirious.

"You didn't know? Anyway Ash, I was about to say, that I think you should compete, you have a good chance of winning you know."

"I do?"

"Sure, I've battled you, and I say you can and trust me I know whocan beat my sister and who can't."

"Well thanks, I think I will." He turned to his little yellow buddy, who was sat, as usual in his perch on Ash's shoulder. "What do you think Pikachu? Shall we go win the Indigo League?"

"Pika, pika!" came the joyous reply.

"All right then, let's go win that trophy!" Then, seemingly out of nowhere, a huge mechanical hand came down, scooping Pikachu up and into the air.

**~**

If you've read the original version of this chapter, hopefully you thought this was better, if you are new to this story, firstly welcome, and secondly, I want to apologise in advance for Chapter 2, as I have not rewrote that yet and a couple of things may be repeated and others may not flow ( I will see if I can get a rewrite out before the end of the week ), other than that I hope you enjoyed it, Chapter 17 will be a little late, but I want to be completely happy with it first. Please review!

Princess Tiger


	2. Can't Live Without It

**The rewrite of Chapter 2 is here! _I eventually finished this and it's a lot better than the original but new readers beware- there may be some continuity errors if I haven't finished rewriting all the chapters when you read this._**

**Chapter 2 – But I Know I Can't Live Without It**

"Ha-ha!" a loud voice from high above their heads, called out.

"Prepare for trouble,"

"And make it double,

"To protect the world from devastation," Ash groaned, as a large Meowth below appeared among the tree tops,

"To unite all people wi-"

"Oh will you goons shut up?!" Nika hollered from below.

"We are not goons, we are Team Rocket and nobody interrupts us!"

"I know who you are; you're the idiots who destroyed the roof of the Champion Hall!"

"That was an accident; we were trying to steal Pikachu!"

"Oh so you admit to it then?"

"Oh shut up Miss Smarty Pants, I've had it, Dustox, I choose you," With a flash of red light, the green and purple moth pokémon appeared by her master's side, pointing a Nika, Jessie ordered Dustox to attack. "Go use Poison Sting on that snotty brat."

Nika sighed, "Bad mistake, Dragonite, I choose you," Nika lamely tossed the pokéball and the majestic orange dragon appeared, regarding Dustox with an arrogant sneer. "Use Dragonbreath!" Rolling his eyes, the Dragonite puffed out what he considered to be a feeble attempt at a Dragonbreath attack, but the green smoke still took out the Poison Sting. "Now go get Pikachu back!" Glancing sideways at his trainer, Dragonite sighed and flew up into the sky, seemingly prising the hand open with very little effort. Dragonite swooped down and shoved Pikachu in Ash's arms, before turning around and burning Team Rocket to a crisp with a Flamethrower all without a command; something Ash, Dawn and Brock found a little surprising.

Jessie growled ominously, but before she could attack, Ash commanded Pikachu to attack,

"Pikachu, use Thunderbolt."

"Pika-CHU!" the yellow pokémon cried, as it released a power bolt of electricity. Unsurprisingly, to the others, Team Rocket's balloon exploded, blasting them away into the sky. Brock breathed a sigh of relief as he and Ash turned around to the sound of Nika talking; in fact she was scolding her Dragonite, who had crossed his arms and was looking at her disdainfully.

"Dragonite how many times have I told you not to be so cocky?" she asked the arrogant pokémon exasperatedly. "Your mother may be the pokémon of an Elite Four member, but that doesn't mean you're God's gift and are totally indestructible. The opponent may not look the strongest, but one day you are going to seriously underestimate a foe and then who'll be in trouble? Not just you, but in an important match, it can affect the whole team; if you keep on with this I'll have to remove you from the team. And I'm sure you don't want that to happen either; because you are a strong pokémon, you just need to get this attitude sorted." Nika paused for breath and noticed Dragonite's expression had changed from one of disdain, to one of sulky boredom, whilst Ash, Brock and Dawn looked like they were ready to move on.

"Alright, lecture over, just remember what I said." She returned Dragonite and turned to face the others. "Teenagers," she muttered, rolling her eyes dramatically.

"Okay, let's go!" Ash shouted, pointing ahead of him.

Nika gave him a confused look, "Err Ash, that's the wrong direction.

"I knew that," Ash chuckled sheepishly.

**~**~**

That evening, the group sat around the glowing campfire, eating dinner; Brock's infamous Lazy Boy No-Chew Stew.

"So Nika, have you been around Kanto much?" Brock asked.

"A little, I'm only really familiar with the area around the Indigo Plateau."

"Oh, well you know Cerulean City, my friend Misty's the gym leader."

"Yeah, I know all the gyms and their specialties, Misty likes the Water-type, right?

"Uh-huh, I travelled with Misty throughout Kanto and Johto."

"Did you now," Nika mused. "Well you must have met Clair, the Blackthorn City then."

"Yeah, we helped her when the Dragon Fang got stolen."

"You're that Ash?" Nika asked surprised, earning her three baffled stares. She sighed, "I might as well explain then. Let me start from the beginning, in case you didn't already know, Jas has been friends with Lance of the Elite Four for ages and Lance's cousin is Clair. My sister's friendship with the pair then developed and now the whole Kirk family gets along well with us (well except for Lance's little sister, but that's another matter entirely). Anyway, Clair was telling me about a promising young trainer she encountered and her cousin, Ritchie, whose family was visiting Blackthorn at the time, also knew you from your time in the Indigo League."

"Ritchie's Lance's cousin?" Ash asked incredulously.

"He doesn't make it well known, he says he doesn't want any unnecessary publicity because of it."

"Understandably so, he doesn't want it to interfere with his training," Brock stated. The group sat in a comfortable silence for a while, until Dawn yawned sleepily and insisted upon going to be, the others soon following suit.

**~**~**

Ash flopped down on the tree stump, rubbing his eyes groggily. He glanced around, Brock was over-seeing the preparation of breakfast, since Nika was trying to add about a pint of golden syrup to the porridge and Dawn was still in her tent, probably fixing her hair.

Nika handed him a bowl of porridge that, to Ash looked suspiciously golden in colour, but he still wolfed it down all the same. Nika sat beside him, her bowl of porridge perched precariously on her lap, while she squeezed a lot more of the thick sticky syrup into her porridge. Ash looked at her bowl in horror and she shrugged,

"I like syrup," she explained simply, then began to stir the syrup into her porridge. By the time she had finished, the substance in the bowl looked like it mostly consisted of syrup, not porridge; in fact, it looked like lumpy, milky syrup. By now, Ash had been repulsed enough for him to not want second helpings, while Nika happily ate her porridge.

Dawn then bounced out of her tent, Piplup marching proudly behind her, admiring his handiwork; not one hair was out of place.

"Hey guys, what's for breakfast?" she asked cheerily.

"You don't wanna know…" Ash mumbled queasily, shuddering slightly as Nika happily ate another mouthful of her sloppy syrupy mess. Dawn's upper lip curled in disgust,

"Nika, what is that slop you're eating?"

Nika looked up from her food; several curious specks of the food spattered on her face and in her eyebrows, and she smiled, holding the bowl up for Dawn to see.

"Syrup porridge," she answered. "Want some?"

Dawn blanched slightly at the prospect and held up her hands to keep the bowl at bay, "I think I'll pass on that one."

**~**~**

After a day's walking, the group managed to reach Floroama Town in time for dinner. Dawn was a little upset as Nika had remembered suddenly that she had a fully grown Salamence on loan that she could have retrieved from Professor Rowan in the Pokémon Centre they had passed an hour before her realisation.

Dawn's feet were tired and she had walked a whole day when she could have gone the same distance in two hours, flying, not to mention the fact that she was starving, tired and the humidity had ruined her hair.

After dinner, the group of four settled down for an early night in the Pokémon Centre, ready for an early start in the morning.

At seven o'clock the following morning, Dawn was awoken by Ash screaming. Drowsily, she lifted her head to see him being electrocuted by his living alarm clock, Pikachu. Seeing nothing out of the ordinary, Dawn flopped back down on her pillow, only to be attacked moments later by a blast of water.

"Piplup!" she squealed, shooting bolt upright and thus smacking her head on the ceiling above her, something Nika found highly amusing.

"Stop being such a sadist," Brock chided, though he too, was smirking at Dawn's 'wake-up call'.

Half an hour later, they were fed, watered and ready to go.

"So here's the flight plan," Nika narrated, she pointed to two figurines on the Sinnoh map spread on the table, "We start here, in Floroama Town and at twelve hundred hours we plan to be in Jublife," she continued moving the figurines south on the map to the large city, "Any questions?"

"Yeah," Ash piped up, "Why do you have _Luxray King_figurines? And why are we Nala?"

"Because I do and if you don't stop asking stupid questions I'm going to relegate you to being Pumbaa," she threatened.

"What's so wrong with Pumbaa; he's a good guy?" Brock asked curiously.

"He's a big ugly Swalot with wind problems," Nika retorted in a monotone.

"Can we go now?" Dawn moaned. "I wanna do some shopping in Jublife."

"Whatever," Nika replied flippantly, beginning to shove her map and figurines carelessly into her bag.

"Nika, who are we flying on?" Ash asked, bringing up an aspect of the plan that seemed to have been forgotten.

"You and Brock are on Clair's Salamence," Nika answered, tossing him the pokéball.

She threw her own into the air, releasing her Dragonite, who seemed to be a better mood than he had last time Dawn saw him.

"See you in Jublife!" Nika shouted as she helped Dawn clamber on.

"Sure, it'll be lunch time then!" Ash replied, earning him an eye roll from Brock.

Dragonite took off into the air, shortly followed by Salamence. For four hours, the two pokémon soared tirelessly through the clear summer skies, eventually reaching Jublife at around midday.

The first sound that came to Dawn's ears as they landed in the central park was the noisy growls of Ash's stomach.

"Eh-heh, must be lunchtime," Ash joked sheepishly.

"Me and Ash will stay and cook, you ladies go off and do some window shopping or whatever," Brock told the group as he began to remove the pots and pans from his rucksack.

As the two girls wandered through the streets, stopping occasionally to nose in the windows, they chatted about family.

"Hey Dawn, you have any siblings?"

"Nah," the blue haired girl answered.

"Suppose you're lucky in a way," Nika mused, "Though I wouldn't go without Jasmine for the world, she can be annoying at times."

"How so?"

"Older siblings always are, I've had experience," Nika replied. "Great rivals though, are siblings, one day I shall have a great face off with Jasmine," she continued, with a dreamy air, "And then I shall retire, win or lose, and devote myself to my love of history."

"You like history?"

"Very much so, that's what I've been doing, studying the history of Sinnoh while I travel, makes travelling alone that little bit more bearable."

"But you have pokémon," Dawn pointed out.

"They aren't the same as humans, you're very lucky in that respect."

"I suppose I am," Dawn said, then lifted her hand to check her Pokétch. "We should probably be heading back for lunch."

Nika nodded and the two girls turned around and started to amble back towards the park where the boys were supposed to be cooking lunch.

However, when they arrived back, they found Ash hunched over the stew pot, his brow furrowed in concentration and Brock was nowhere in sight.

"Ash, where's Brock?" Dawn asked, a slightly dangerous edge to her voice.

"He went that way," he answered, gesturing over his shoulder absent-mindedly as he continued to stir the stew. "I took over when this started to burn."

"The lunch started to burn?" Dawn fumed.

"Calm down," Ash said, "He's coming this way now, see chasing that jogger."

"Why that little…" Dawn muttered.

"Hang on," Nika intervened, "I shall go retrieve the cook." She set off at a jog towards the love -struck Brock as he trailed aimlessly behind an uninterested jogger. As Nika reached him, she seized hold of his collar and promptly dragged him back to where Ash and Dawn were.

She let go of the protesting Brock as she reached Dawn and ran over to Ash to get some food.

"Sure just leave me here," he moaned.

"What happened to Croagunk?" Dawn asked the Breeder, scanning the area for the blue Poison-type.

"He got exhausted after fighting Brock off ten other women," Ash said nonchalantly.

"Goodness, we were only gone for just over half-an-hour," Nika exclaimed.

"That's Brock-o for ya," Dawn quipped.

**~**~**

After lunch, the two Dragon-types were released once more and the three hour flight to Sandgem Town began after yet another exaggerated briefing from Nika and her figurines. Instead of stopping off at the Pokémon Centre, Nika took them straight to Professor Rowan's lab.

Nika stepped up to the door and rapped in a complicated pattern on the wood with her knuckles.

"Adaaam!" a voice bellowed inside. "Nika's here."

"Why can't you get it Dominic?" another voice, Adam's hollered back.

"Coz one of the Eevees just crapped on me!"

Nika smiled warmly, "I love my cousins."

"Your cousins work for Professor Rowan?" Dawn asked. Nika nodded.

"Hi Nika," a breathless voice said as the door opened. "Sorry, I was upstairs."

"Don't worry," Nika said, shrugging it off. She turned to the trio behind her, "This is Ash, Brock and Dawn."

Adam inclined his head to the three, "I believe we've met before, albeit briefly." He pulled the door open wider, "Do come in."

"How was the honeymoon?" Nika asked as they stepped inside.

"Great, though not as eventful as the reception," Adam answered with a laugh.

"Yeah," Nika chuckled, "That food fight was the cat's pyjamas."

"How's your Piplup, Dawn?" Adam asked as he led them along the corridor.

"Oh he's really strong, we've won loads of contests," she gushed proudly.

"Yeah, you were great in the Wallace Cup."

"Thanks," Dawn answered, blushing bashfully.

"How are Mum's Pokémon doing?" Nika asked as they entered the main lab.

"The newest Dratinis hatched a few weeks ago and the Eevees hatched just yesterday," a young man answered from beside a small pen containing young Eevees.

"Dominic!" Nika greeted. "Meet Ash, Dawn and Brock," she introduced, waving the trio over.

"Hi!" he said.

"Now cute," Dawn cooed as she bent down to admire the baby Eevees.

Brock turned to Nika, "Do you breed these?"

"No, the Eevees are the various offspring of my mum's six prize pokémon and the Dratinis which are outback are the children of Dom's Dragonites."

"Would you like one?" Adam offered.

"Are you sure?" Dawn asked delightedly.

"Yeah," Dominic said, "We overestimated a little on the litter, so we had four more eggs."

"I like that one," Dawn decided, pointing at the Eevee in Dominic's arms.

"It yours," Dominic declared handing the pokémon over. It cried cheerily and snuggled into Dawn's arms.

Ash's stomach growled suddenly and the whole group turned to stare.

"That's the signal for food," he said with a nervous laugh.

"You can stay for dinner if you like," a voice called from the upper balcony that ran around the top of the lab.

"Hey Professor!" they greeted.

"Hello, I'll be down in a mo, I'm just dealing with this Feebas."

"How is he doing?" Nika asked.

"Great, I was just doing some research for evolution."

"Would you like to borrow Milotic then?" she offered.

Professor Rowan nodded and headed back into his upstairs lab.

After dinner, the group were given a whistle-top tour of the lab and its grounds by the Professor, Adam and Dominic. By the time they finished it was around eight o'clock in the evening so they bid their farewells with a promise to visit again before they left in two days and headed off on the short journey to Twinleaf Town.

The journey was slow and took longer than expected, so the group stopped off at half-past nine with plans to continue on to Twinleaf in the morning.

Nika and Dawn collected firewood while Ash and Brock set up camp in a clearing to the side of the dirt track. After washing and climbing into bed, Dawn didn't remember anything else as she fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.

**~**~**

"I'm hungry," Ash whined as they trudged along the path in the unusually muggy heat.

"Ash you ate third helpings of breakfast not half an hour ago."

"But it's lunchtime," he moaned.

"And it you were able to get up at a reasonable time you'd be able to eat them as separate meals."

"Hey!" he protested, "It was Nika who got up late."

"A girl needs her beauty sleep," she said nonchalantly.

"Then you have a lot of catching up to do!" Ash joked, earning him a vicious scowl.

After half-an-hour's more of walking they reached the peaceful sight of Twinleaf on a Sunday. Nika parted ways with Ash, Brock and Dawn and while they headed off to Dawn's home, Nika went to run an errand for her mother.

"I can't believe that by this time tomorrow I'll be on my way back to Pallet!" Ash mused excitedly as they started to wander down Dawn's road.

"You sure are excited about going home and competing in the League," Brock said with a smile.

"I sure can't wait to see Kanto," Dawn added. "And I'll finally get to meet Misty."

"Do you have her present Ash?" Brock asked, giving the younger trainer a knowing look.

"Of course, on adorable Finneon just for Mist!" he said contentedly patting the Net Ball on his belt.

The conversation ended there as a huge red and cream (with a touch of green) blur shot past them and then came to an abrupt halt thirty yards away. Dawn recognised the distant figure as a proud Rapidash and the person on its back as Nika.

"Thought I would take an easy way back," she told them as she dismounted and returned her Fire-type. She joined them at the steps to Dawn's house and together the four of them entered.

"Dawn!" Johanna greeted, stepping out of the lounge to envelope her daughter in a hug. "Good to have you back darling."

"No need to worry mom, I go away again tomorrow," Dawn answered cheerily.

"I know," Johanna said with a sigh, "And I hope you have fun in Kanto."

After greeting Ash and Brock and being introduced to Nika, Johanna left the four to their own devices as she retreated back into the lounge to watch the TV.

They took the opportunity to mooch around in the backyard; Ash started working on Pikachu's attacks, Brock polished his Sudowoodo, Dawn caught up on her tan and Nika sat in the shade after explaining how her pale skin meant she tended to fry to a crisp in the sun.

At around six, the air cooled and the group retreated indoors for dinner and an early night.

The following morning, Dawn's house became a scene of chaos as people dashed left, right and centre while they checked and re-checked their rucksacks and ate breakfast. They were running late for the ferry and after they'd all piled out the house, they had just fifteen minutes to get to the docks before boarding closed.

They said goodbye to Johanna at the house and sprinted through the streets of Twinleaf, skidding around corners and accidentally bumping into several rather disgruntled people.

Brock flashed a sailor the tickets as they sped up the gangplank finally collapsing in a crumpled heap on the deck.

"I can breathe again," Dawn cheered, wheezing.

A foghorn blasted above them as the gangplank came away and the ship started to slowly pull away from Twinleaf. The four rose and started to wave goodbye to the land of Sinnoh. Ash sighed contentedly; his Sinnoh journey may have been over for now, but he still had plenty to look forward to.

Suddenly, there was a joyous cry from Nika and Dawn,

"Watch out Kanto here we come!"


	3. On the Road Again

**Chapter 3 – On the Road Again**

It was a typical Monday in May; the sun was shining, the grass was green and a nice cool breeze blew across the Pallet Docks gently. Misty had gathered there with Delia Ketchum, Tracey, Professor Oak, and Gary. She shifted her weight from toe to toe excitedly as she waited for Ash to descend the gangplank.

She glanced up to the deck of the ferry to see if she could see him there when she was suddenly enveloped in a hug from behind.

"Ash," she greeted, turning around to return her friend's hug.

"Misty, I'd like you to meet Dawn and … where's Nika?" he said, looking around his new friend.

"She's speaking to Oak," Dawn answered. "Hey Misty," she added, holding out her hand for her to shake, "Nice to finally meet you."

"It's a pleasure," Misty returned with a smile.

"Ooh Misty," Ash said suddenly, "I caught this for you," he told her, placing a Net Ball in her palm.

"What is it?" she asked, her eyes shining happily as she rotated the ball in her hands.

"It's a surprise, but don't release it here."

Misty nodded and turned to someone else she didn't recognise, who had just arrived. The girl was fairly plain, with very pale skin and dark green hair that was pulled to one side and tied in a ponytail by her left shoulder. She wore a loose purple dress with three-quarter sleeves that were hemmed in red.

"Misty, this is Nika, the Sinnoh Champion," Ash introduced, "And Nika, this is Misty, the Cerulean Gym Leader."

"Nice to meet you," Misty said pleasantly as she shook Nika's hand.

"It's nice to meet you too."

"Where's Brock?" Misty asked after quickly scanning the pier.

"Over there," Nika answered, pointing to where Brock was shamelessly flirting with a pretty blonde tourist.

"He never learns," Misty sighed, shaking her head fondly at her older friends' antics.

"And he probably never will," Dawn added, watching the scene and feeling the same pity everyone else felt for the hapless Breeder.

"I wish we could stop him before he embarrasses himself," Nika said.

"Oh no need to worry, he's embarrassed himself on countless occasions!" Misty chortled.

After everyone had collected all of their luggage (and Croagunk's Poison Jab had successfully persuaded Brock to give up on the girls loitering about Pallet Town's docks) Delia had invited the group back to the Ketchum house for dinner.

While Delia prepared dinner in the kitchen, with the Professor for company, Ash, Gary, Tracey and Brock sat around on the plastic patio furniture to catch up on the various aspects of each others' lives they happened to have missed.

Nika, Misty and Dawn sat down on the grass by the pond while Misty allowed her new pokémon, a Finneon, to swim while the girls chatted about various things.

"Well Ash said, we have come up with some plans for tomorrow," Misty said after the three had lapsed into silence.

"Tomorrow?" Nika asked with a slightly perplexed glance.

"Yeah, we're leaving for the Indigo Plateau in the morning apparently, we're going to walk there and Mrs K, the Professor, Tracey and Gary are going to arrive there later in the week."

Interlude…….

Ash was tired the following day, but any human would, considering the volume of food he had consumed the previous night. Not even the trucker who managed to eat the entirety of the 48 pound steak at Pallet's infamous steakhouse could beat the seventeen year-old in an eating contest.

"Morning Mom," Ash said sleepily as he reached the kitchen.

"Afternoon Ash," Delia replied. "Brunch?"

"Please," Ash answered, taking a seat at the small wooden kitchen table.

Delia set down a plate of food in front of her son and he instantly began to tuck in greedily.

"You know, after all the food you ate last I night, I thought you wouldn't eat again for a week," Nika commented dryly as she entered the kitchen.

"You only just got up?" Ash asked, though the intended incredulity was lost through his mouthful of bacon.

"No, you just got up," Nika corrected. "I however, have been up since nine and am all packed and ready to set off on our journey to the Indigo Plateau," she added haughtily.

"Well congratulations to you, you deserve a medal," he muttered sarcastically.

"And congratulations to you Ash," Misty chimed as she entered the kitchen, her voice just as thick with sarcasm, "You've mastered the art of sarcasm while I've been away."

Ash glared at her briefly before returning to his plate of food.

**~**~**

"I'm hungry," Ash moaned pitifully

"Shut up Ash," Misty ordered, "That's the fifteenth time you've said that this hour."

"Not to mention the huge brunch you had no more than two hours ago," Nika added.

"But I'm hungry," he whined.

"Be quiet," Misty snapped.

"Why should I when I'm hungry?"

Misty growled and her eye bulged slightly as her hand contracted into a fist. Sensing danger on the horizon, Ash quickly did a figurative backpedal.

"Sorry Misty of course you're right," he said, and was thankful that, for once, the red-head failed to notice the sarcasm in his tone.

"That's better."

"How about we play 'I Spy'?" Brock suggested cheerfully.

Nika and Dawn groaned in unison.

"Brock," Dawn said exasperatedly, "I'm almost fourteen, not four."

They wandered through the forest for a while longer, following the designated route to the Indigo Plateau, until the group of five came to unanimous decision that they should stop and for the night. They set up camp with little difficulty, although Nika failed miserably at setting up the two-man tent Tracey had lent her and Dawn, lit the fire, and then Brock, Dawn and Ash went out to collect fire wood since the forest was full of bugs and it was apparently Nika's turn to cook.

After an hour of waiting, the dinner had gone cold and Misty and Nika were starting to get worried.

"They should be back now," Nika commented.

"I'd never have guessed that," Misty said dryly.

"Do you want to go look for them?"

"No, if we leave, we'll get lost," Misty replied.

"Okay, what do you suggest we do then?" Nika asked with a sigh.

"We could sing I suppose," Misty suggested. Nika gave the girl a questioning glance.

"If they are lost they'll hear our voices and head towards them," she explained.

"That's a good idea actually," Nika said.

"You begin," Misty told her.

"One, two, three," Nika began. "In the jungle, the mighty jungle, the Luxray sleeps tonight,"

Her out of tune voice sounded incredibly loud in the quiet forest. Misty shrugged and joined in with her.

"In the jungle, the mighty jungle, the Luxray sleeps tonight..."

Nika and Misty smiled at each other, Nika gave her two thumbs. The pair kept singing the song from the 'Luxray King' musical until Nika began to sing a verse Misty failed to recognise.

"In the jungle, the mighty jungle, the Donphan sleeps tonight, the Aipom farted, an earthquake started, the Donphan jumped with fright."

Misty laughed and the childish lyrics and then proceeded to join Nika in a second rendition of the song given that their first had failed to draw anyone back to them.

"In the jungle, the mighty jungle, the Luxray sleeps tonight..."

Misty and Nika trailed off at the sound of rustling in the bushes.

Meanwhile, Ash groaned and opened his eyes, observing the scene around him, Brock and Dawn were still unconscious, his pokémon had been taken off him and he was in some sort of prison cell. He sat up and tried to remember what had happened. His head was sore and his stomach was protesting loudly against its food-deprived state.

'Well' he thought, 'we were out collecting the fire wood, I remember that, then we stumbled across a building, which I guess is the one we're in now. I remember being surrounded by a gang of people, they closed in on us and then everything went blank, but I think I saw the inside of this place as we were being brought here-'

His thoughts were interrupted by the man who had just entered the room.

"Hey kiddo, quit plotting, there's no way out."

Ash scrutinised the man closely, he was dressed in a black uniform, with a red 'R' on the front and he had an enormous snarl decorating his shadowed face.

Then everything fell into place, they must have been looking for firewood and had found a Team Rocket base, so they had been captured and imprisoned. Wow, all they had wanted was some warmth for while they slept.

"Hey kiddo you haven't got anymore twerpy mates in dat forest have ya?"

Ash frowned, the man spoke suspiciously like Meowth, but the Cat Pokémon was much too short to be the man in the room currently, what's more, the man had no tail or pointy ears.

"No," he answered, not really remembering what had been asked in the first place.

"Whatever, a search party's gone out anyway."

**~**~**

The rustling was all around them now, so Misty and Nika knew it couldn't be their three companions.

"Get ready to run," Nika handed Misty a pokéball, while trying desperately to remain calm and passive. "Use my Dragonite, tell him to fly you to my sister in the Indigo Plateau, he knows where she'll be."

"What about you?" Misty asked concernedly.

"I'll be fine, just go get Jasmine's help," Nika said dismissively.

"We've gotcha now, you twerps," a loud voice called out, and without anymore warning, a group of around twenty intimidation Team Rocket grunts leapt out from the bushes around the clearing and began to close in on the two females in the centre.

"Go Dragonite," Misty commanded, releasing the surly teenage Dragon- tybe in a flash of red light. She climbed onto its back hastily and after Nika gave the pokémon a pointed glare, he pushed off the ground and flew off into the night sky.

"Damn she got away," the apparent leader cursed suddenly. Nika raised a curious eyebrow – he hadn't exactly tried to stop her.

An evil glint was clear in his eye as he turned to Nika and addressed her in a falsely sugared tone, "But it looks like she abandoned you, and you've got nowhere to run sweetie pie."

"Ahh, but that's where you're wrong," Nika retorted cockily, stroking the smooth surface of the pokéball she held in her hand. She fell silent and the leader began mutter under his breath impatiently while waiting for her to continue.

Nika sighed; he really was an incompetent team leader. Catching him by surprise, she threw her pokémon into the air, "Rapidash I choose you!"

She mounted onto her fiery pokémon swiftly and nudged him to move with her knee. Rapidash neighed loudly in response, rearing onto his hind legs, before starting to gallop towards the edge of the clearing. Whinnying, he used his powerful hind legs to launch himself into the air and over the surprised Team Rocket grunts.

Smirking evilly, the team leader lifted a radio to his mouth, "Team Base, this is Carter reporting, the target has escaped. Send in the Special Unit, two female targets headed for the Indigo Plateau."

The static sizzled and crackled in his ear before a pompous female voice sounded in his ear,

"You let them escape? You incompetent moron! What did you do that for?"

Then there was silence.

**~**~**

Misty clung on tight as she sped through the air, the wind blowing her hair in all directions. She glanced down towards the ground, hoping she would be able to see Rapidash's fire from the sky, but she had no such luck.

She hoped Ash, Brock and Dawn were alright, now it was obvious they had managed to get themselves caught up in some of Team Rocket's evil plans, there was no knowing what would happen to them.

She leaned in closer to Dragonite and instantly he moved faster. Misty was glad he seemed to know where he was going, for she had no idea.

After Misty felt sure an hour had passed she would have been amazed at how Nika's Dragonite could still fly as fast as it had been, had it not been the offspring of Lance's infamous battling partner.

Misty could see the distant lights, of the Indigo Plateau ahead of them and she smiled, knowing that she could finally rest away from the chilling wind. Dragonite and they began his descent. An awed Misty admired the sights of the glowing, lively streets of the place she hadn't visited in several years. Dragonite flew straight to the old mansion atop the hill in the centre. It had once been the home for the Indigo Champions, long ago when the Conference was first held but had since fallen into disuse, until Jasmine had bought it, under much encouragement from Mr Goodshow, who hated to see the grand old house fall into a state of disrepair. Dragonite landed outside a with barely any noise and Misty dismounted.

"Thanks Dragonite you've worked hard, so I guess you deserve a good rest in your pokéball," Misty said in a hushed tone as she returned the Dragon-type.

Misty turned to the large red front door and knocked loudly. She heard movement inside and a light came on downstairs as someone moaned loudly about the time of night.

Jasmine Rowan had been happily reading her new book in the confines of the grand master bedroom. Her friend, Lance, had left after dinner on a business matter and had not yet returned. Although she was slightly worried, she knew he come back when he came back as he always did – completely unscathed. He would often stay at the mansion, whether she was living there at the time or not, since it's location was central, ideal for his many missions as both a G-Man and a member of the Elite Four.

Her serenity was interrupted however, by a loud pounding at her front door. Grumbling, she glared at the clock – it was eleven o'clock, then she proceeded downstairs and crossed the grand marble foyer to answer the front door.

"Hello?" she greeted brusquely as she opened the door. On the doorstep, a worried, windswept young woman was stood. She had bright red hair, pale skin and bright blue eyes that were the exact colour of Lake Verity. Upon closer inspection Jasmine recognised the young woman stood before her.

"Hey, aren't you the Cerulean Gym Leader?" she asked.

"Misty," she answered, "And I really need your help."

Jasmine nodded, throwing her dark hair carelessly over her shoulder and stepping aside to allow the red head to enter.

Jasmine led Misty across the foyer, behind the grand staircase and through a heavy wooden door that led to the kitchen. There, she sat Misty down on one of the barstools at the work bench and busied about making a hot drink while the girl relayed the entire story.

The conversation was interrupted however, by a second loud pounding at the front door.

"This had better be good," Jasmine muttered darkly as she walked briskly to the front door. She opened it with unnecessary force to reveal none other than her own sister stood there breathless and slightly battered.

"Nika, what the hell happened to you?" She asked incredulously.

Nika smiled and revealed a cut on her upper arm, "Scyther can be such lovely creatures," she muttered sarcastically.


	4. A Bit of a Predicament

**A/N:_ Just to clear things up, this was originally Chapters 5 and 6, which is why the next chapter is written as Chapter 7. When I finish rewrites, I'll go through all the chapters and re-number them all. This is published as an accompaniment to the new chapter (23). Also, don't forget to vote in for your favorite rival in the poll on my profile!_**

**Chapter 4 – A Bit of a Predicament**

Brock and Dawn had since returned to the realm of consciousness and were now trying to figure out exactly what had happened while Ash paced about the cell, stopping occasionally to kick the bars.

"What's wrong Ash?" Dawn asked, noting her friend's agitated temperament.

"They're gonna find Misty and Nika," he said running a hand through his dishevelled black hair.

Ash then began to relay the tale he had to tell about the Meowth Man and how a search party had been sent out to check the forest for campers. He was interrupted however by Meowth Man himself, who barged into the room cussing, noticeably limping on his left leg.

"Oi twerps!" he barked. The trio ignored him and swivelled round on the floor so they were sat facing away from him.

Meowth Man growled and his right eye started twitching uncontrollably.

"Look at me when I'm speaking to yous!" he roared.

"Did you hear something?" Dawn asked mockingly, "If I wasn't mistaken, I could've sworn I just heard a Rattata."

"No, Dawn," Ash answered. "I didn't hear anything, maybe you were just imagining things."

"Right, dat's it!" Meowth Man muttered venomously. "I'm leaving this place! I'm sick of being ignored!" To illustrate his point, he kicked the heavy metal door in his angrily, which unfortunately hurt his foot more than it hurt the door.

"I hate this!" he screeched and stormed out the room.

Dawn raised a thin blue eyebrow.

"What a strange man," she observed.

**~**~**

"You mean you got attacked by a gang of Team Rocket grunts and Scythers?" Jasmine shouted loudly.

Nika sighed and leaned against the shiny granite work bench.

"Jas, I've already explained this – there were only three grunts, and I'm fine, honestly."

"You're fine, are you?" Jasmine asked incredulously. She reached out and poked the banaged area on Nika's left arm.

"Ow!" she exclaimed, glaring at her older sister.

"You have a huge gash on your arm, you're not fine."

"It's just a little cut," Nika protested.

"Nika, it's three inches long!" Jasmine retorted exasperatedly. She sighed heavily and massaged her temples, turning to Misty.

"Misty, you stay here with Nika, she's not allowed to do anything that may harm that arm. I'm going to find those idiots and rescue your friends."

Misty nodded in agreement and Nika sighed dramatically and flopped down into a chair like a stroppy toddler who _just needed_ her way.

Jasmine rolled her eyes at her sister and walked calmly out the kitchen and towards the front door. From the coat rack, she picked up her black cloak and wrapped it around her, fastening the red broach at her shoulder.

She reached into the pocket of her yellow dress and pulled out and shiny red pokéball. Smiling, she pressed her lips to the polished surface and swept out the door.

"Charizard, my dear, looks like we have some unexpected business to attend to," she said softly, releasing the powerful Fire-type from his place inside the capsule.

He roared loudly and stretched out his vibrant orange wings, allowing Jasmine to climb on before he pushed off and soared into the night sky.

For Jasmine the flight could not pass by quick enough, the wind was unusually brisk for June and was chilling her to the very bone. Charizard was flying at his top speed but it still took them over an hour to reach the forest.

Upon locating the base from the air, Jasmine ordered Charizard to land in a clearing about three-hundred yards away to avoid being detected.

**~**~**

Nika sighed heavily and prodded her arm, it wasn't really that painful, so Jasmine was fussing over nothing. She sighed again and flopped down over the table.

Misty walked in a few moments later, and upon seeing the green-haired woman slumped over the hard, wooden table in boredom, decided that she too, was fed up of waiting around in the unfamiliar house, even if it was against Jasmine's orders.

"Come on," she ordered, "We're going to kick some Team Rocket butt!"

"I thought you'd never say that!" Nika cheered, standing up so quickly that her chair toppled over.

Without a moment's hesitation, the pair sprinted out of the kitchen, out of the house and were on Nika's surly Dragonite before you could say 'Hello Mr. Taillow, how's your wife and family'.

**~**~**

Jasmine observed the Team Rocket base from where she was hidden behind a rather bristly bush. It looked rather inconspicuous, like an ordinary warehouse, the only really peculiar thing about it being the fact that it was in the middle of nowhere.

All of a sudden, a strong, gloved hand clamped down over her mouth. Instinctively, she simultaneously bit down on the hand and kicked the assailant in the groin. He flinched back with a groan and she whirled around to face him.

She was met by a familiar mop of spiky red hair. She flinched in surprise and cursed inwardly.

"Lance?!"

"Yes it's me," he said through gritted teeth, hands clasped protectively over the area she had kicked, "What the hell are you doing here? I thought you were home."

"Saving some of Nika's friends. What are you doing here?" she punctuated the final mark with a prod in his chest.

"G-men business," he answered, drawing up to his full height.

"So we'll go together and save them," Jasmine said, also drawing to her full (though not very great) height.

"No you're staying here," he said firmly, "I don't want you getting hurt."

"Well tough - I'm going," she retorted whirling back around to face the base. He rolled his eyes.

"Fine," he said begrudgingly, taking her hand in his, "After watching this place, I think the side entrance is our best bet."

**~**~**

"Well," Nika whispered dramatically, "we're here."

"Congratulations Captain Obvious," Misty muttered sarcastically as she glared at the obstacle in front of her: the back door.

"So how do we get in?" Nika asked, prodding at a button on the keypad by the door without really realising what she was doing.

Misty pivoted round to face her.

"By using the d-" she cut herself off as the screen above the keypad turned red and started bleeping in an imposing monotone.

Nika whipped her head around and her eyes widened in shock.

"Crap!"

"Yes, crap!" Misty added impatiently, pulling Nika behind a large oil barrel.

The pair stayed there in silence, their hearts beating rapidly as a group of around four Rocket grunts came out the very door they had wanted to enter and quickly scanned the area.

"Probably an idiotic pokémon," one muttered as they returned inside.

Misty breathed a heavy sigh of relief once the door had closed and turned to Nika… who wasn't there.

"Nika," she hissed, frustrated.

"Here," a voice whispered.

Misty quickly looked around and spotted nothing. Then a pale hand waved out from a gap in the door and it opened a little further to reveal Nika crouched on the inside of the building, fighting to slip her foot back in her shoe.

"How did you get there?" Misty asked.

"I shoved my shoe in the door as it was closing," Nika said with a shrug, as if the answer was obvious.

Misty glared at her and hurriedly shuffled in, trying to stay in a crouched position as she moved.

Once inside, Nika allowed the door to close and pair stood, starting to creep along the passage way in the most inconspicuous manner possible.

At the end of the corridor, they looked left and right to check that the coast was clear, and then chose to follow the left turn, which seemed to lead quite far into the centre of the building. After around two minutes of tip-toeing along the corridor in an almost unbearably suppressing silence, and wincing when they shoes squeaked on the polished linoleum floors, Nika and Misty reached another split in the corridor.

However, before they could choose a path to follow, the sound of Team Rocket grunts walking down the corridor towards them could be heard and the pair quickly dived into a nearby store cupboard to avoid detection.

**~**~**

Jasmine's deep brown eyes darted around as she observed the people surrounding her and her best possible way to escape. She and Lance were stood back to back in the middle of a corridor, encircled by a rather imposing group of around thirteen grunts.

Her friend squeezed her hand in a slightly protective manner to gain her attention.

"How many moves do you think we'll have to use to take these grunts down?" Lance mumbled to his partner, looking at her over his shoulder.

Jasmine smirked confidently as she observed the grunt directly in front of her, enlarging a polished blue and white sphere.

"One."

Lance smiled at her attitude and enlarged a pokéball of his own.

"Oh, no, you don't," the apparent leader of the troop told them. "Alpha Sqadron, you know what to do."

Jasmine suppressed a smile at the cheesy team name, but her amusement soon faded as every grunt released a pokémon.

Lance squeezed her hand tighter as he regarded their opponents, thirteen snarling Houndoom commanded by thirteen snarling grunts.

'_Brilliant_' he thought as he released his Dragonite wordlessly.

"Weavile, go!" Jasmine shouted, throwing her Great Ball to release the Sharp Claw Pokémon in a flash of white light.

"Flamethrower!" the grunts shouted simultaneously and the thirteen Dark Pokémon released a streaming torrent of flames upon the surrounded duo.

"Quick, Weavile, Dark Pulse!" Jasmine ordered quickly, losing her cool slightly under the pressure.

"Dragonite, Water Pulse," Lance commanded, keeping his infamous level head.

Both the Dragon-type and the Dark-type charged up their respective attacks in glowing spheres which they then unleashed on the Flamethrowers and Houndoom, just a few precious milliseconds before the fire attacks hit.

Powerful blasts of dark energy and water pulsated out, knocking down most of the Houndoom in one hit.

"Told you we could do it in one," Jasmine said, smirking proudly as the grunts returned their fallen pokémon and retreated down the corridor.

"Hmm," was all Lance said as he mulled something over, after returning his Dragonite.

"What?" Jasmine asked as she turned around to face him.

"Well, now we can't exactly creep through this place unnoticed, so we'll have to be quick," Lance pointed out.

"Oh well, we're Champions, we can manage," Jasmine said, confidently shrugging the comment off and returning her Weavile.

"We can't take on an entire Team Rocket base, no matter how skilled we are. You of all people should know about underestimating your opponent," he said seriously.

Jasmine's smirk faded. "Must you bring that up?" she asked exasperatedly.

"Yes, I must, and it was your own fault that you lost our battle," Lance said with an air of finality.

Jasmine harrumphed angrily, knowing he was right, yet refusing to accept defeat, and pointedly ignored him as they continued down the corridor.

**~**~**

A pain was burning through the muscles in Misty's legs as she crouched behind a huge Persian statue deeper in the base. She was lost and alone. Why did she have to stubbornly refuse to go towards the control room?

It probably was a better idea to go there first as it was easier to observe the goings on of the building but she had wanted to go straight to rescue Ash, Brock and Dawn. She was very worried about her friends.

"Are you sure you heard something?" a female voice asked.

Misty frowned, she didn't sound like a Rocket grunt. She peeked cautiously around her statue and was pleasantly surprised to see Jasmine and a man walking along the corridor.

Misty squinted and upon recognising the distinctive height and red hair, identified the man as Lance, Dragon Master of the Kanto Elite Four and Champion of Johto.

"Yes I did," he answered.

"Well what did you hear then?" Jasmine challenged.

"Someone moving behind that statue," he said, pointing in Misty's direction. She gasped at his apparent hearing skills and ducked back behind the statue.

She held her breath as she crouched, rigidly pressed herself against the pillar on which the marble Persian stood, silently begging the Gods of Fortune to let Jasmine keep her temper when she learned of her and Nika's presence in the building.

The footsteps stopped and Misty slowly turned her head, bracing herself for the inevitable.

"Misty," Jasmine hissed angrily, "What are you doing here?"

"Well," Misty began but she was interrupted by Lance.

"You two know each other?" Lance asked.

"Well, yeah, she's friends with Nika," Jasmine said in an impatient tone. "How do _you_ know her?"

"She friends with Ash, the guy who almost beat Nika in Sinnoh this year," he answered. "He also helped me save the world on several occasions," he added in a joking impersonation of an arrogant person playing coy.

Jasmine rolled her eyes dramatically, "Well some of us spe-"

"Can we please go look for my friends?" Misty asked exasperatedly, successfully cutting off Jasmine's counter argument.

"Yes, we were just headed that way," Lance said. "Jasmine's going to the control room, so you and I'll go to where the captives are held."

"Sounds fine to me," Misty said, quickly falling into place behind him.

**~**~**

Nika sat in the empty control room, spinning round on the black computer chair like a giddy toddler. She had located the room where Ash, Brock and Dawn were being held and had also managed find where their pokéballs were.

She had watched the exchange between Jasmine, Misty, and Lance unfold and was currently watching the latter two make their way along the dark corridor that led to the room where Ash and his friends were being held.

Taking out her ruby PokéGear, she checked the signal bar and sent a message to Lance, using the list of codes she found for reference.

'_I'm in control room. Code for cell is 3972. Their pokémon are next door, code is 5683. Nika.'_

She watched as Lance took out his PokéGear and read the message aloud to Misty. The pair entered the room without a problem, and satisfied, Nika turned away to see if she could see Jasmine on any of the screens.

After closely scrutinising each of the eighteen monitors, Nika gave up searching for her sister and instead started looking around the room she was in.

All four walls were painted black and were covered in various pieces of paper, notices and machines that blinked on and off, except for the long wall on which the eighteen monitors that showed almost every corridor in the base were. Under the monitors was a long grey metal desk, which looked like some sort of control panel – covered in blinking lights and various buttons.

One, a large red button looked particularly tempting to press, especially so, bearing in the mind the message beside it that read,

'_Only press in case of dire emergency.'_

Before she could investigate further, the sound of hurried footsteps could be heard approaching the control room on the passage way outside.

**~**~**

Jasmine halted her stealthy approach on the control room as she heard movement inside. The adrenaline started to coarse through her body, resounding in her ears as she loosened her body in preparation for an attack.

Without checking inside the room first, she hurtled in, launching herself at the person inside.

**~**~**

An infinitely happier Misty lead her friends down the corridor as they approached the control room, ready to collect Nika and Jasmine and escape.

The group halted at the sound of a loud battle-cry somewhere down the corridor.

Slowly, Misty turned to face Lance, "That sounds like Nika who's in the control room…"

"…which is where Jasmine was headed," Lance finished.

An identical look of horror swept over their faces as realisation dawned.

"What?" Ash asked as he, Brock and Dawn remained clueless, and tried to figure out what was going on.

"Crap," Misty muttered, before she and Lance set off at a run down the corridor towards the control room, their shoes squeaking noisily on the linoleum floor.

Hastily, the confused trio followed and stopped as they beheld what was unfolding in the control room.

Nika and Jasmine seemed to be nothing but a flurry of arms and legs as they wrestled on the floor, still too full of adrenaline to actually recognise one another.

Lance faked a cough loudly enough to garner their attention.

The two looked up at the room's new occupants curiously, Jasmine still held in a head lock by her younger sister.

"Hello, Nika and Jasmine," Ash said from behind Misty and Lance.

The pair remained silent and instead slowly turned to face one another.

A look of embarrassed horror crept onto their faces.

"Oops," Nika said, smiling sheepishly and releasing her hold around Jasmine's neck.

"Yeah, oops," Jasmine answered sarcastically, rubbing the slight red patch on her neck.

"Someone's in da control room!" a voice shouted further down the corridor.

The group of seven froze at the sound of numerous Rocket grunts approaching quickly.

Instinctively, Misty slammed her hand down upon the first button that caught her attention, the big red one.

The eighteen monitors went blank and whirring sound resounded out the speakers.

"This building will self-destruct in T-minus thirty seconds," an automated female voice announced to the building.

"That's why it should only be used in dire emergencies," Nika said knowledgeably.

"Never mind that!" Jasmine shouted impatiently.

"We need to get outta here!" Ash and Dawn shouted in unison.

Quickly, they exited the room and sprinted back down the corridors, skidding dangerously round the corners in their haste to exit the building before the countdown ended.


	5. Feeling Indigo Blue Again

**Chapter 5 – Feeling Indigo Blue...Again.**

"That wasn't fair; I wanted to press the red button," Ash moaned the following morning as the group walked along the road in the Indigo Plateau.

"Tough. You didn't even know there was a red button, so there," Misty answered haughtily.

She and Ash were headed for the Pokémon Centre with Brock, Dawn, and Nika. Despite the fact that Nika's Dragonite was too tired to carry a human, the group had managed to make it back the previous evening anyway. Jasmine's Charizard and Dragonite, and Lance's own Charizard and two Dragonites flew the seven trainers to the Indigo Plateau. Nika had invited them to stay with her at Jasmine's house. She insisted that there was plenty of room.

Even though they hadn't needed to find a room at one o'clock in the morning, they still didn't get much sleep and everyone was a little grouchy.

"I'm hungry," Ash moaned, clutching his stomach. It growled loudly.

Dawn sighed. That was one of the tell-tale signs that it was midday. Another was the fact that the sun's rays were steadily beating down from above the bustling metropolis.

When they reached the Pokémon Centre, Ash and Nika headed over to the reception desk while Misty, Brock, and Dawn sat down on the sofas in the lobby to wait.

"Hello, how can I help you?" Nurse Joy greeted in her typical cheery manner.

"I'd like to register for the Pokémon League!" Ash declared confidently.

Nika shot him a resigned glance. "And I'd like it if you'd heal my Rapidash and Dragonite," she said in a much calmer manner, taking out two pokéballs.

"Sure," Nurse Joy answered, placing a tray on the counter top. "Just place them on this tray." She then turned to Ash. "And could I see your Pokédex and badges, please."

"Okay," Ash said, placing his red Pokédex down on the counter top a little too vigorously.

"Hey," Nurse Joy said as Ash rummaged around in his green rucksack for his Kanto badges. "Aren't you Nika Rowan?"

"Yes, I am. And this kid," she said, jerking her thumb in Ash's direction, "was the one I beat in the final last month – he's from Pallet so I persuaded him to have a go at the Indigo League again."

"Oh, so you've competed before?" the nurse asked Ash, who simply nodded, as his search for the small badge case became a little more frantic. While the hunt continued, Nurse Joy took Nika's pokémon through the door behind the reception desk.

"Ash, please do not tell me you left the badges at home," Nika told him exasperatedly.

"I didn't," he mumbled, hitting his hand against a familiar cold metal container. "A-ha! Found it!"

Nika sighed. "Ash, aren't they your Sinnoh badges?"

"Nope," he answered confidently, placing the case beside the Pokédex, "I left the Sinnoh ones at home."

"Ready to register?" Nurse Joy asked, coming back through the door.

"Yeah!" Ash answered eagerly, pushing his Pokédex and badge case towards Nurse Joy.

"Good," she said as she started to enter his details into her computer. "And Nika," she added, "your pokémon should be ready in a couple of hours."

"Okay. Thanks, Nurse Joy!"

The pink-haired woman turned back to face them and placed down a guide book, and Ash's two items.

"Right, Ash, you're all set and ready to go!"

"Thank you, Nurse Joy," Ash said, taking the three objects and placing them in his rucksack.

"And your first battle is on the Ice Field at two p.m., the day after tomorrow."

"All right!" Ash cheered enthusiastically.

"Have a nice day now!" Nurse Joy said with a smile as the pair turned away from the counter.

"Bye!"

As they reached the other three, Ash punched the air.

"All right, now we can go eat!"

**~**~**

That night, Nika laid in her bed thinking as she glanced at the sleeping forms of Misty and Dawn who shared a room with her.

"You know," she mused to herself aloud, "It sure is nice to travel with others again."

"What do you mean by 'again'?" a quiet voice asked.

The green haired woman shot up and looked about the room to see who had spoken. She sighed with relief when she saw Dawn awake, propped up on one elbow on the bed opposite hers.

"Oh, hey, Dawn," Nika said, turning so she sat, cross-legged facing Dawn. "I used to travel with someone, which is why I'm so glad to be able to travel with you guys, even if it's just for a short while."

"What do you mean by a short while?" Dawn asked.

"I have plans: there's a big Champions' League coming up in the next couple of years , and I want to challenge the Indigo League too."

"Oh," Dawn said simply as thinking about what she wanted to do in the near future too. She hadn't been alive to see the last Champions' League, so she made a mental note to ask Brock about it, since he would have been six when the last one took place.

Both girls remained silent and listened to the steady ticking of the clock.

"Who did you travel with?" Dawn asked quietly, shifting in her bed to stared at the white ceiling.

"Riley, a childhood friend of mine and Jasmine's. He works at his parents' Lucario Reserve while his older brother, another friend of mine, works for Silph Co. in Veilstone."

"Are you very good friends then?"

"Yes. In fact, we're almost like family – he attended my cousin's wedding," Nika said, with a small chuckle as she remembered the event.

"Is this the wedding you were talking about with Professor Rowan's assistant?"

"My cousin Adam? Yes, it was his wedding actually, but I shall leave the honours of what happened at the reception to Riley's brother, who'll be here in time for the finals."

"Oh, cool. Will Riley be coming?"

"Probably," Nika answered, shrugging. "Now we should probably be getting to sleep or we'll sleep through the opening ceremonies."

"I think I'm too excited to sleep," Dawn answered. Nonetheless, she turned over and settled down.

Ash was the last to rise the following morning, and he arrived in the kitchen after the majority had finished breakfast. Jasmine and Lance had already gone to train in her expansive back garden, Dawn was washing the dishes while Nika dried, and Brock was cooking Misty's last pancake on the stove.

"Morning, Ash," the four in the kitchen greeted in unison.

"Morning," he said, sitting down at the heavy oak table, opposite Misty.

"So, what are the plans for today?" Dawn asked cheerily as she took off the yellow rubber gloves, finished with her chore.

"All competitors need to be at the stadium in about half an hour, so I would suggest we leave as soon as possible to get good seats," Brock said as he placed Ash's stack of pancakes down on the table.

"No need," Nika said, an air of smugness crept into her tone. "As my guests, we can get priority seats."

"We still should leave soon or sleepy-head here will be late," Misty said, jerking her head towards Ash.

"Ash, hurry up," Dawn said.

Her comment turned out to be a little unnecessary – he was already cramming the final pancake into his mouth.

**~**~**

In Nika's opinion, the Kanto opening ceremony was far more extravagant than the Sinnoh one. She was amazed at how the humongous stadium was overflowing with clamorous spectators, each shouting their own encouragement to their competing friends at the tops of their voices, desperate to be heard over the almighty din.

All the competitors, numbering in at about two-hundred and fifty, marched into the stadium in two groups, each with rows of about twenty across. Ash himself was near the front of the parade, waving cheerfully to his friends in the crowd while Pikachu sat proudly on his other shoulder.

Ash's group, the first to enter the stadium stopped in the centre, then moved to the left then the other group followed suit, except this time, they moved to the right so there was a split down the middle for the final torch bearer.

On the stage halfway up the giant stone steps that lead to the huge carved stone bowl (it held the great Flame of Moltres) was Charles Goodshow, Pokémon League President, and Jasmine, the current reigning League Champion. Upon her signal, a man banged the huge gong and the crowd hushed.

"People of Kanto," Mr. Goodshow addressed the crowd. "Welcome to the one-hundred and twenty-seventh annual Indigo Plateau Conference. This year we are host to two-hundred and sixty-four trainers from across the Pokémon world who have worked tirelessly to win eight badges from the many Gyms in Kanto. Over the following week, they will fight through eight rounds of intense Pokémon battles in order to be crowned champion.

"But before we begin, the Flame of Moltres must be ignited as must the fires in our hearts and spirits, so will you all welcome our final torch bearer!" He cast his hand towards the back of the arena where the trainer was, dressed in running gear and sweating heavily as he sprinted the final stretch across the stadium with the burning torch held high above his head in his left hand. He jogged up the steps to the applause of the audience until he reached the stage.

"Let's hear it for Manny Golding!" Jasmine shouted and the spectators broke into a thunderous applause. Together, Jasmine and Manny marched up the final flight of steps of the huge stone basin. On her signal, he placed the torch to the kindling in the basin and the giant Flame of Moltres lit and billowed out into the summer sky.

From her place beside him, Jasmine raised her arms, holding onto the edges of her purple dress cloak so it appeared that she had wings. As she spoke, she flung them down, like a person would do to start a race.

"Let the competition begin!"

**~**~**

Ash woke early the following morning, adrenaline flowed through him in anticipation for the first match. He was unable to resist the childish urge that made him jump out of bed with a confident (and rather loud) yell of,

"I'm gonna win!"

But before he could continue with his happy cheers, a pillow was flung his way.

"Ash, it's five-thirty," Brock moaned as he glared at the clock - he wanted his final half-hour's sleep before he got up to start his usual daily routine.

Then the Breeder's eyes shot open as he processed this information.

"It's five-thirty and you're awake?" he asked the excited younger trainer incredulously. "Are you feeling okay?"

"I'm fine, Brock," he said, though his mind was elsewhere as he started to pace the room.

He went through all his pokémon in his head. He wouldn't be able to use Charizard, who would have been useful on the Ice Field, because Liza was not able to fly him over until later that day – it was the same situation for his Squirtle too. Professor Oak was coming for his later matches and would bring all his older pokémon then, but for now, Ash had to rely on being able to get time on one of the video-phones. He could use any pokémon staying at the Oak Corral.

Ash was excited about seeing all his old pokémon, so he decided there and then that he would use them in his preliminary matches. As he ran through each and every pokémon that was with Professor Oak, Ash came to a conclusion. He knew exactly who he was going to use.

He quickly changed into his pyjamas and ran downstairs, ready to run from Jasmine's house for the video-phones at the Pokémon Centre, when he noticed one in Jasmine's hall way. Completely oblivious to the fact that Professor Oak was most likely still asleep, he picked up the receiver and dialled his mentor's number.

**~**~**

The Ice Field had a home in the smaller stadium and it was filled almost to the point of bursting even though this battle was only a preliminary. The atmosphere was cheery and excitable, and the crowd were loud enough to drown out the pre-match music blasting from the speakers. The only reason, in fact, Ash's friends could hear it above the crowd was their priority seats, given the Rowans' status. They sat next to a speaker (which in Nika's opinion wasn't that great, but that was because she had an uncontrollable hate of dance music).

"Ladies and Gentlemen," the announcer's voice boomed over the loudspeakers. "Welcome to the second battle here on the Ice Field today: Ash of Pallet Town versus Dwayne of Celadon City! Let's hear it for our trainers!"

The audience's applause grew even louder as Ash and his confident opponent walked into the arena and took their places on their respective coloured posts – Their friend on green and Dwayne on red.

Ash waved from his post at his friends in the crowd – Misty, Brock, Dawn, Nika, Gary, Tracey, Delia, and Professor Oak were all there. Pikachu, Piplup, and Buneary jumped excitedly beside them, all dressed in Dawn's specially designed cheerleading outfits.

The referee puffed on his whistle and raised his two flags in the air.

"Trainers, let the battle begin!" he shouted.

As the red trainer, Dwayne was to choose his pokémon first. He pulled a polished Great Ball from his belt and enlarged it.

"Arcanine, I choose you!" he yelled, throwing the ball and releasing the giant fiery canine into the arena.

"Bayleef, come on out!" Ash shouted, releasing his chosen pokémon.

Bayleef cried in delight and playfully nudged Ash before bounding into her place on the frozen pitch. The audience quietened, perplexed – why had Ash chosen a Grass-type to go against a Fire-type? Surely it was a suicidal move.


	6. Luck Isn't Everything

Well guys, here's Chapter 8. We're continuing Ash's battle, how will Bayleef win? Does Ash have something planned? Or was he just being plain stupid? Please review, it's nice to know people read my story, and I'd love to be able to improve. I hope you enjoy reading it.

Chapter 8 – Luck isn't Everything

The crowd were stunned. The announce struggled to find words, he was had only been this shocked once before, in his ten years commentating the Indigo League. How could a trainer at this level send out a grass pokémon, knowing his opponent had already sent out a fire pokémon? Brock, Dawn, Misty , Ash's mom and Professor Oak all put their heads in their hands. Gary shook his head. Only Nika understood what he was doing, pitting a pokémon at a disadvantage was what she always did, except for her battle against Ash, because she knew he was too strong to take any chances. She turned to Gary, who she was sat next to and whispered,

"Don't worry, I know what he's doing."

"What do you mean?"

"He's trying my normal way to battle, your pokémon at a disadvantage, it helps make them stronger against things their weak to, my Rapidash is amazing against water and ground types."

"Really? Rapidash aren't normally very strong against water or ground types, could I see it battle?"

"If you want to. Is it for your research?"

"Uh-huh."

The battle still hadn't started, the referee was standing there. Then he seemed to have recovered because he raised his flags and ordered them to start.

"Arcanine go! Use take down!" With a loud roar, the fiery orange pokémon began charging at Ash's Bayleef.

"Bayleef, quick, use Vine Whip to jump and then hit it with you Body Slam!"

Bayleef's vine's slammed down on the floor and it flew into the air. The crowd gasped, then at twice the speed it had gone up at, Bayleef threw itself down on the confused Arcanine. The force shook the battlefield. Bayleef jumped back, away from Arcanine.

"Bay, bay."

"Good job Bayleef!"

Arcanine lay on the floor, unable to move. Dwayne got agitated.

"C'mon Arcanine get up!" The referee ran so he was level with Arcanine. He held his red flag up towards Ash.

"Arcanine is unable to battle Bayleef wins." The announcer sounded as shocked as the stadium was.

"Wow, in one powerful Body Slam, Bayleef has won the match."

Misty, in the crowd, turned to Brock. "Ash's Bayleef sure has gotten strong."

"I wonder how, Ash hasn't trained it since the Johto League." Dwayne reached for his next pokéball.

"Heh-heh, your Bayleef may be strong, but there's no way it can handle this. Go Piloswine!"

"A Piloswine, think you can handle it Bayleef?"

Bayleef nodded, "Bay, bay!"

"Alright then, Bayleef, let's go!"

The referee once again held up his flags, "Piloswine, Bayleef, let the battle begin!"

"Right, Piloswine, use Blizzard!" The huge, hairy pokémon brought up a huge whirl of ice and snow and then sent it at Bayleef.

"Bayleef, watch out, preserve your energy!" And as if it knew exactly what Ash wanted it to do, Bayleef slammed its Vine Whip down and flew into the air, but somehow it managed to stay up, but the in Blizzard, no-one could see what had happened. Ash's friends sat there nervously, then the snow storm cleared. Bayleef was supported in the air by its Vine Whips, which spread from each side of the stadium roof.

"And in an unusual use of Vine Whip, Bayleef is now supported in mid air, what will Ash do next?"

Dwayne glared up at Bayleef, how was he going to reach it? His thoughts were interrupted by Ash's next command.

"Bayleef use Solar Beam!"

Before Dwayne could react, a huge beam of light blasted through the stadium, its immense power concentrated on Piloswine. It lay dazed on the floor.

"In what has to be the most powerful Solar Beam I've ever seen, it looks like Dwayne's Piloswine has taken serious damage. Will it be able to get back up?"

"Pilo...swine." grunted Piloswine as it struggled to stand. Dwayne glanced nervously up at Bayleef, still suspended, high above his head. Knowing Bayleef would need to come down, he ordered his PIloswine again.

"Piloswine, get under Bayleef, and when it comes down use Fury Attack."

'Uh-oh' thought Ash. 'If Bayleef can't come down, how will I attack?'

"I know" he exclaimed out loud. "Bayleef, hit Piloswine on the head with a full force Body Slam!"

"Bay, bay." Came Bayleef's reply. Ash's friends all seem to think the same thing, 'if Piloswine's attack was coming from its head, then why was he attacking the head?' But Ash knew why, even if they didn't. Bayleef, let itself go, it fell so fast, if you'd blinked, you'd have missed it. The speed of Bayleef's attack meant that Piloswine, being slow couldn't react quick enough, so Bayleef's entire body slammed down on top of Piloswine, the ice cracked open, and Piloswine went right through to the freezing waters below.

"Piloswine!" Dwayne cried, he sounded really agitated.

"Now Bayleef, use your Vine Whip to grap Piloswine and throw it."

Bayleef's long vine slid into the water, then with incredible effort, Bayleef managed to pull Piloswineé up and fling it into the air. Piloswine crashed down on the battlefield, leaving a huge crack in the ice. The referee once again held up his red flag.

"Piloswine is unable to battle, Bayleef wins."

"And in a stunning turn of events, Ash's Bayleef has now defeated two of Dwayne's pokémon, what will he choose as his last?"

Dwayne held his last pokéball in his hand and hoped for the best. He threw it into the air,

"Geodude, I choose you!" The rock shaped pokémon appeared on the battle field. Ash observed the terrain, looking for a way he could possibly use to his advantage. The field had been ravaged, there were cracks everywhere, chunk of ice missing, a huge crater from Solar Beam and a large, deep hole on far side of the field, near to Dwayne, where there was a pool of icy cold water.

For the third time, the referee held up his flags and ordered them to start. And just like before, Dwayne went first.

"Geodude use Rollout!" Geodude curled up into a ball and began rolling towards Bayleef at an incredibly fast speed. Ash tried to think of some way to stop it, but Geodude was coming at them so fast he just ordered the first thing that came into his head,

"Bayleef, use Vine Whip to change Geodude's direction."

The long green vines came out of Bayleef's neck and whacked Geodude on the side. It veered off course and headed back towards Dwayne. Before it's trainer could react, Geodude changed course again and landed in the huge pool of water.

"Geodude!"

"Bayleef, fish it out and hit it with a Solar Beam!"

"Bay, bay!" Bayleef's vines once again slid into the depths of the water and pulled up a Geodude, who already looked like it could no longer battle, was held in mid-air, while Bayleef's Solar Beam blasted it, Bayleef let go of it at the last moment and Geodude was throw into the wall, almost completely lodged in it. Somehow, it fell out, onto the floor, the referee ran to it and for the final time held up his red flag.

"Geodude is unable to battle, Bayleef is the winner. The winner of this match is Ash Ketchum, from Pallet Town." The crowd once again roared with excitement, as the screen showed Ash's photo and flashed the word 'Winner' right below it. Misty was amazed, Ash was so much stronger now. Then the crowd gasped in unison, as Bayleef began to glow and change shape. The announcer sounded just as shocked as everyone else, "What's this? it looks like Bayleef's evolving!"

The glowing stopped and a huge Meganium was left standing in front of Ash.

"Mega, mega." It beamed at him, Ash ran to give it a hug, a massive grin plastered to his face.

"Meganium, you're so great! You're gonna be even more awesome in battle."

Ash's may have had a brilliant start to the Kanto League, but things just got better, again he only used one pokémon in each of the preliminary rounds, sailing through them all. Ash's first two battles in the final rounds went well too. But now he was in the top four, and things had to go wrong somewhere didn't they? This was the ideas all his friends had, even though Ash wouldn't believe them he just had his head in the clouds, knowing good fortune was on his sides. Until he saw his opponent in the semi-finals. Ash and his friends gasped in horror as they saw the photo on the screen. It was Ritchie.

That was Chapter 8 for you. Please review, it will help me improve my writing, or let me know if you think I'm doing a good job. I don't think I'm very good at writing battle scenes. So if you have any tips please tell me. Thank you for reading, I'll try and get Chapter 9 finished soon.


	7. Having a Blast Burn of a time

Here is Chapter 9, it took me a little longer as I have had tons of stuff to do. Ash has just found out that he is going to battle Ritchie in the semi-final. Please review for me. I hope you like this next Chapter.

Chapter 9 – Having a Blast-Burn

Ash sat on his bed, with his legs draped over the edge of the bed, he had his head in his hands. Pikachu was sat next to him, peeking curiously at Ash's face, wondering if he could find any sign of what was wrong. From time to time, one of the others would could in, with some food for Pikachu, or a plate of food for him. Ash didn't speak (which was worrying) and he didn't touch the food (which was even more worrying). The others were getting very worried, they had never seen Ash become like this before, especially over a battle (or so they thought). As they sat eating dinner, they started to discuss things,

"Well, I don't know about you, but I think Ash has been worrying himself un-necessarily over this battle with Ritchie."

Misty looked at him, "What do you mean, Brock?"

"When he battled Ritchie last time, he only lost because Charizard wouldn't obey him, if Charizard would do as Ash said then, he would have won."

"That's true, because Charizard would battle opponents it thought were worth battling, and it quite obviously thought Ritchie's Pikachu wasn't worth the trouble."

Nika broke in, "Then I don't think that's what's bothering Ash." Everyone looked at her, she looked back at them and continued. "Well if Ash could have won so easily, then a battle with Ritchie shouldn't bother him, so theoretically, now Charizard is properly trained, Ash should easily be able to win.

"I see your point." Brock thought for a moment. "Nika did you worry about anything when you were doing your first Championship?"

"Not particularly, there was only the one thing that really bothered me. You see, like Ash, I dreamt of becoming a pokémon master as a child, but as I saw the quarter final draws, and I was matched up with a girl who was a friend of mine, who also dreamt of becoming a master. That night, I had a weird thought, either me or this girl was going to destroy her friend's dreams of becoming a master but that wasn't it, the main thing that bugged me was, 'What if I don't make it? What if I don't become a master? What if I spend my life chasing a dream that will never materialise? What if this has all been a waste of my time? What will I do?' I spent so long wasting time thinking about these questions that I nearly missed the match."

"So you mean, you were worried that the time you had spent chasing your dream to become a pokémon master, all the time you had spent raising pokémon, all the time spent battling to be able to compete in the Pokémon League, was going to end up being a big waste of time?"

"Yes, but that's not necessarily what's going on with Ash."

"But it is quite likely?"

"Could be, but Ash may or not..." she gestured randomly with her hands, unsure of how to word what she wanted to say, but the others got an idea of what she was trying to say. Misty offered to go talk to Ash to try and see what was wrong. Misty stepped cautiously down the corridor towards Ash's room, trying to be quiet, but her shoes squeaked noisily on the newly polished floor. She poked her head round the door, Ash looked up,

"Oh hi Misty." Pikachu's ears pricked up, it had been sat with Ash all day, and its trainer hadn't moved or spoken at all. Misty didn't realise this as she hadn't been into the room yet, it was mainly Brock and Dawn who had come in with food for Ash and Pikachu. Misty sat on the bed next to Ash and placed her hand on his shoulder.

"Ash, what's wrong?" Ash could clearly hear the concern in her voice. Slowly, he turned round to face Misty, looking directly into her eyes.

"I'm worried." He stated, his voice was bland and expressionless , lacking its usual energy and enthusiasm.

"About what Ash?"

"Misty, what if I don't make it as a pokémon master? I'll not only let myself down, I'll let all my friends, family and pokémon down. And I'll have spent God only knows how long chasing dreams that won't materialise. And what if chasing those impossible dreams means that other dreams I form along the way can't happen either. What if chasing those dreams prevent me from being other things I want to be, doing all the things I want to do, saying all the things I want to say?"

"Ash, you're thinking way too hard, I've never seen you think so much, you're brains probably hurting now so just stop thinking. Get rid of all these 'what ifs'. You will make it, but only if you follow your dreams instead of wasting time thinking about them. You have no need to worry okay?"

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. And remember, I'll be with you all the way."

"Thank you Misty," Ash drew her into a hug. "I don't know what I'd do without you." Then there was a incredibly loud rumble. Ash blushed, Misty shook her head,

"Honestly, we'd better go get you some food, I've never know you to go this long without eating."

"Pika, pika." Pikachu cried indignantly.

"And we'll get some for you too, Pikachu." She grabbed Ash's wrist and dragged him out into the corridor. Pikachu stretched itself out then jumped onto Ash's shoulder. "We need to hurry, remember, Liza's bringing Charizard here for around 7."

""Oh yeah I forgot about that."

His conversation with Misty had cheered Ash up, and after eating he was back to his normal self again. Everyone except Nika (who was on the phone to Riley) waited outside for Liza to arrive. At half-past seven, she still hadn't appeared and the others were starting to worry, Nika had now joined them, since she had finished talking to Riley ages ago. She also wanted to see Ash's Charizard so she could compare it with her sister's. At a quarter to eight they were just about to give up and go inside, when Ash got a Flamethrower in the face, which caused him to blast back several feet. Misty looked up to the sky and pointed at a steadily approaching form,

"Look there's Charizard!"

"Ash's Charizard?"

"Yes."

"Why does it hit with Flamethrower?"

"Because..." Misty tried to think why. "I have no idea." Nika nodded and turned to Ash,

"Your Charizard has a good Flamethrower, hitting you with that power at that distance, wow." Ash went to respond, but he couldn't as Charizard had thrown itself at him, so he couldn't move.

"Charizard, you big lummox, can you get off me?" Ash gagged under the weight of the huge pokémon. Reluctantly, Charizard climbed off Ash and stood over him, as Ash struggled up off the floor, he barely had time to stand before Charizard hugged him. As Charizard freed Ash from its grasp, another Charizard appeared in the sky, this time pulling a balloon.

"Liza!" Ash yelled.

"Hi Ash." Charla, Liza's Charizard, landed gently on the ground beside them. Liza climbed off its back and smiled at them, she looked a little flushed.

"Sorry I'm so late, we got attacked by a bunch of goons in a Meowth balloon, but after we got rid of them they kept on coming back, they were so annoying."

"That would have been Team Rocket, they are so persistent, no matter how many times they blast off."

"So that's why Charizard knew them, they were those guys who always used to try and steal things mainly your Pikachu right?"

"Right, so how as Charizard been?"

"Oh he's been great Ash, I taught him a new move, which I'll show you later."

"Really? That's so cool what's it called?"

"Blast Burn." She went and looked in the basket of her balloon and handed Ash a bright orange pokémon egg. "This is for you."

"What is it?"

"An egg Charla laid, her and Charizard are kinda of an item now."

"I should have guessed, anyway thanks for the egg." He turned to Brock and held out the egg, "You've never had an egg before, so it's yours."

"Thank you Ash, thank you Liza." Misty looked puzzled, she was wondering why Brock hadn't tried to ask Liza out, like he had on every other occasion they had seen her. She shrugged it off as they all wandered towards the forest so Liza could show them Charizard's new move. They found a small clearing, near the edge of the forest where they could practise.

"It's not perfect yet," Liza warned them. "And I would recommend that all of you stand way back, by those trees." She gestured at Misty, Dawn, Brock and Nika to the edge of the clearing.

"Right Ash, tell Charizard to use Blast Burn."

"Okay," Ash turned towards where his giant pokémon was standing. "Right Charizard, use Blast Burn." Charizard let out a mighty roar, and the earth began to tremble. Then, almost like they had come out of nowhere, huge flames blasted out the ground, appearing then disappearing in random places. Ash gasped,

"Wow, this move is so cool!"

"It's really useful too, because the flame will just come out the ground and hit your opponent wherever they're standing."

"So it's a good battle move then."

"Depends, Blast Burn uses up a lot of Charizard's power, so I would recommend using it near the end of a battle."

"Point taken."

Nika, had quite obviously been thinking she had been quite quiet, until now, "So Liza, Blast Burn's one of the ultimate moves isn't it? I mean like my Torterra's Frenzy Plant is the ultimate grass move."

"Yes I believe it is."

Brock thought a second, "Hang on, I thought Solar Beam was the best grass move?"

"It is the best one all grass pokémon can learn, Frenzy plant can only be learned by four pokémon, Torterra, Venusaur, Meganium and Sceptile."

Ash got excited, "Really, my Meganium can learn Frenzy Plant, that is so awesome, will you teach it to it for me?"

"I can't, but there's an old man who lives in the desert on Gran Combataria Island who taught it to my Torterra, he can teach all the ultimate moves, Blast Burn, Frenzy Plant and Hydro Cannon." Suddenly three people jumped out the bushes,

"Ha-ha, prepare for trouble that is a blast..."

"...make it double with our fiery past..."

"...to protect the world from the cold..."

"...to use fire that's bright and bold..."

"...Jessie..."

"...James..."

"...Team Rocket Blast Burns off at the speed of light..."

"...surrender to our heat now or prepare to fight."

"Meowth that's right."

Misty sighed, "How did I guess you three losers were going to turn up sometime soon."

James got mad, "WE'RE NOT LOSERS!"

Misty ignored him and carried on, "Aren't you three getting a bit old for this now, anyway?"

Now it was Jessie's turn to get mad, "WE'RE NOT OLD, YOU LITTLE TWERP!"

"Actually I'm taller than you now," Misty stated calmly.

"RIGHT THAT'S IT, I'VE HAD IT! COME ON JAMES LET'S GO." Before he could argue, Jessie grabbed hold of James arm and dragged him out the forest with Meowth struggled to keep up, as Jessie stormed on ahead. Misty smiled,

"Team Rocket's storming off again."

Nika laughed, "Too right they are!"

"I hope that's the last we see of them for a while."

"We all hope that, although they can add some humour to our lives."

"They sure do. Now I've gotta go decide what pokémon to use tomorrow, I'll definitely use Charizard and Pikachu though."

"I'll come help you Ash, as I'm better with computers than you."

"I don't need you to tell me that again Brock."

As the two men disappeared inside, Liza went to her room and Nika went to go see her sister in the Champion Mansion, which was right at the top of the hill. Misty and Dawn stayed outside and chatted for a while, before heading inside. That night Ash could barely sleep, the adrenaline pumping through his body, his battle was in a few hours time.

*****

Thank you for reading Chapter 9, Chapter 10 is Ash's battle with Ritchie, and it will be published soon. Please review for me. Now I have some quick notes:

Gran Combataria Island is the name I gave to the Battle Island area in Diamond and Pearl (the one with the fight area, etc)

The characters' current ages are:

Ash – 17

Misty - 17

Brock – 22

Nika – 18

Dawn – 14 (almost 15)

Any other characters' ages will be written into the story later on unless their age is obvious, like Gary's (same as Ash's).


	8. We're both Friends and Rivals

I can't believe I've managed to write ten chapters, I hope you're all enjoying the story so far (I've got better things planned for later).I'm trying to get as much written as possible at the moment, because I'm going on holiday soon (Wales, yet again) and we're not doing much at school anyway. I hope you like reading this next chapter, if not please review and tell me why not, as I need some constructive reviews, so I can improve my writing, not that the other reviews haven't been brilliant, because they really have, but still some more would help.

Chapter 10 – We're both friends and rivals

Ash woke up early again, he looked at the alarm clock, and it was five-thirty. He could feel the adrenaline rushing through his body in anticipation of his match, but this time it wasn't a good sort of excitement like it was on the morning of his first battle. For the time in his life, Ash Ketchum was truly nervous. He wasn't worried about losing. He was worried about how Ritchie would react is Ash won, after all they hadn't spoken for a long time and the last time he saw him in person was in the Whirl Islands. His heart pounded as he waited for the alarm clock to ring, Ash had set it for six-thirty, but the hour he spent lying there, thinking about things seemed to drag on forever. Ash welcomed the alarm when it did ring, even though its shrill, tinny sound made his ears ache. As he slid himself off his bed, Brock groaned and rolled over. Unfortunately, there was no bed left for Brock to roll onto and he crashed onto the floor, banging his head on the bed frame in the process. Ash snorted, trying to contain his laughter, Brock glared up at him. Ash couldn't hold it any longer and he rolled around on the floor in hysterics. Brock scowled,

"That was not funny."

"Oh it so was, just wait until the others hear at breakfast." Ash sprang up and headed towards the door.

"You wouldn't dare."

"Wanna bet?" challenged Ash; Brock lunged at him, tackled him and dragged him to the floor. The two wrestled until Brock had managed to get Ash in an arm lock on the floor.

"Fine, fine you win." Brock let Ash go and dusted off his hands. They got their clothes and headed off to the shower rooms to get ready. Ash's battle was the first of the semi-finals, taking place in the morning, at ten; Jasmine's was in the afternoon. They had planned to leave for the stadium at nine because otherwise they would have no chance of getting seats near the front.

By eight, Ash, Brock, Misty, Dawn and Nika were all sat around the breakfast table, Ash was, as usual, stuffing his face with food. Misty shook her head,

"Honestly, you claim to be nervous yet you're shoving food into your mouth by the tonne."

"Mmm, ungraa," Ash's sent crumbs flying everywhere.

"Ash, that's gross. You know you're not supposed to speak with your mouth full."

Nika sat staring out the window, deep in thought. Dawn looked up from her Choco-pops and turned her head in the same direction, the street outside was very busy for just gone eight, but Jasmine and Lance were walking along outside, chatting to one another.

"Lance and Jasmine..."muttered Nika.

"What, Lance and Jasmine? What d'ya mean?"

Nika pointed, "Look at 'em."

Misty turned to Nika, "What so Jasmine and Lance are..." she gestured with her hands.

Nika nodded, "But I don't think they are actually, you know..."

Dawn clicked her fingers when she understood, "So they're just friends who you know..."

"Yes."

"Ah, I see."

Ash scratched the back of his head, "What the hell are you on about?"

The three girls sighed heavily, and Misty and Dawn nodded at Nika to explain.

"It's just a theory, but we think Jasmine and Lance are in love-" she was stopped by Brock choking on the straw from his orange juice, which was making him cough and splutter. Nika, who was sat next to him, administrated him with five extremely powerful back slaps, which sent the straw flying out of his mouth and across the room, hitting and old man on the head.

"How on earth did you swallow your straw Brock?" Nika scolded.

"Oh I'm sorry, I've just nearly been killed twice, first, by a straw, and then second by your backslaps and you're telling me off?" Brock's voice was all wheezy. Dawn quickly saw an opportunity to avoid another argument,

"You were saying Nika?"

"Oh right, we think Lance and Jasmine are in love, but they're not an item so you can't say anything."

Ash was even more confused, "What do you mean by that?"

"Jasmine is in love with Lance, but he doesn't know it. And Lance is in love with Jasmine, but she doesn't know it. They think the other one thinks they're just friends."

"Oh I see now, but how do you know is it's true or not?"

"Look out the window at them," Ash leaned forward as Nika pointed them out. "Can't you see it? It was so much more obvious last night, though."

"Last night?"

"When I went to visit Jasmine, I asked her about her and Lance and she said they were 'just friends' but she looked so sad when she said it like, like..."Nika couldn't find what she wanted to say.

"...like she wanted them to be something more." Brock finished.

"Yeah."

"So what are we gonna do about it?" Dawn asked eagerly.

"We're gonna get them together."

"Misty's the leader, she's the most hopeless romantic here."

"Gee, thanks Ash." Misty muttered sarcastically.

"No, no, I meant it in a good way. You're really romantic in a good way."

"Whatever you say," then Misty turned to address the whole group. "So, what are we gonna do..." The group sat there, and began brainstorming ideas, making plans and the occasional ridiculous, farfetched scheme, until Dawn noticed it was ten-past nine. Everyone dashed to their rooms to pick up their bags, while Ash made sure he had all the right pokémon with him, then they ran to the stadium, so fast they could barely breathe and they stood gasping outside the stadium. Ash went into his waiting room, Misty, Brock and his mom came with him, while Dawn, Nika, Gary and Professor Oak went to get some seats. Jasmine had decided to pass on watching the match, so she could prepare herself for later, Lance went with her. From across the stadium, they could see Ritchie's mum, who waved at them, so they waved back. Just before the match began, Misty, Brock and Ash's mom came back and sat down in their places. Everyone felt similar, both excited and nervous (except Gary) at the same time. Then the announcer's voice boomed out across the stadium,

"Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the first semi-final match of this year's Indigo League, please give a warm welcome to Ritchie from Frodomar City!"The crowd roared in applause as Ritchie stepped onto the battlefield. "And Ash from Pallet Town!" Ash stepped onto the field looking up at his friends in the crowd, cheering and waving madly. 'What a load of loonies,' he thought, as Brock hit Misty in the head with his arm. Ash and Ritchie took their places on the battlefield, Ritchie at the green end, Ash at the red. The judge held his flags down,

"Trainers choose your pokémon." Ritchie seized hold of a pokéball from his belt and threw it into the arena,

"Happy, I choose you!" Ritchie's Butterfree appeared in a flash of red light. Below his image on the big screen, a small image of Butterfree came up.

"Ritchie has chosen a Butterfree, what will Ash pick?"

Ash grabbed hold of a pokéball without a moment's hesitation and threw it into the arena,

"Go Glalie!" The huge white pokémon faced now faced Butterfree on the battlefield, and its image was now below Ash's, opposite Butterfree. The judge raised his flags,

"Butterfree, Glalie, let the battle begin." Since he had been the first to send out his pokémon, Ritchie commanded Butterfree to move first, with an air of confidence in his voice, like he had a trick up his sleeve,

"Happy, use Tackle!" It immediately started flying down at Glalie, Ash could see where Ritchie's smirk had come from, Butterfree was _fast_.

"Quick, Glalie use Ice Beam!" Glalie tried to shoot Butterfree, but it was moving too fast, it hit Glalie head on, while dodging the Ice Beam attack.

"And it looks like Glalie takes a direct hit from Butterfree who didn't take any damage at all."

Ash took a deep breath, remain calm he told himself as Ritchie ordered Butterfree to use Tackle again.

"Glalie use Ice Beam!" Again, Glalie was too slow, and got hit head on with a Tackle attack. They kept this up for several more turns, Butterfree attacking, and Glalie missing, until Ash realised this strategy was not going to work, Butterfree was too fast. As he tried to come up with another idea quick, Glalie got with another Tackle attack and went down.

"And that looks like one direct hit too many, will Glalie be able to get back up?" Ash turned his attention back so it was fully on the battle,

"Come on Glalie, get up." The pokémon struggled. Misty sat chewing her nails. With a considerable amount of effort Glalie managed to get up. The Judge held up his flags,

"Continue."

Ash was quick and managed to get his attack order in first, "Glalie, when Butterfree s coming, I want you to spin around and use Blizzard." No-one really understood what the point of this attack was, except Ash, Glalie and Pikachu (who was sat on the sidelines until Ash needed him).

"Happy finish this up, use Tackle." Immediately, Butterfree flew at Glalie, who started spinning round faster and faster. Just as Ash had hoped, Glalie's Blizzard had formed into an icy tornado. Butterfree was going too fast to stop, and got sucked into the whirling snow storm, being spun round and round, helpless to the cold.

"Happy!" Ritchie sounded distressed. "Try and get out Buddy."

Then, following Ash's directions, Glalie managed to throw Butterfree out the Blizzard and it crashed onto the floor, it lay there dazed unable to get up. The judge held up his red flag,

"Butterfree is unable to battle, Glalie is the winner!"

"What a stunning turnaround for Ash and Glalie after that shaky start, but who will win?"

Ritchie took another pokéball in his hand, he knew Glalie was weak so beating it shouldn't be too hard.

"Go Bright!" Ritchie's Lanturn landed in the pool at the battle field's centre with a loud splash. The judge once again held up his flags,

"Lanturn, Glalie may the battle begin!"

"Bright, use Thunderbolt!" Bright's light began to glow, and a huge zap of electricity shot out towards Glalie, it tried to dodge, but it wasn't quick enough. The yellow sparks shocked it, and as soon as they stopped Glalie fell to the floor unable to battle any longer. It was too exhausted. The judge held up his green flag,

"Glalie is unable to battle, Lanturn wins."

Ritchie beamed, "Way to go Bright!" Ash just took hold of his pokéball, he knew how he ws going to win, he had a strategy. So without hesitating, he threw the pokéball into the arena.

So, Ash is in his battle with Ritchie, will he win? Chapter 11 coming up next. Quick thanks to all my reviewers. You guys are great. Quick note, I have made up some pokémon for Ritchie as I only know four, and I remembered the little nicknames he gives them. Please tell me what you thought of this chapter, reviews are very helpful. Thank you for reading.


	9. Midbattle Popsarazzi

Here's Chapter 11 of my story, Ash is currently in battle with Ritchie. It took me a little longer to write because I had to see what moves the different pokémon can learn. Just reminding you of the disclaimer that seems to be in every other story, no, I don't own pokémon (although I'd like to), but I do own this story, Nika, Jasmine and any other characters I make up, including a very important one I will be introducing (well, mentioning) soon...

Chapter 11 – Mid battle pops-arazzi

"Bulbasaur, I choose you." In a bright flash of light, the little pokémon landed on the battlefield,

"Bulbasaur!" It cried joyously. Holding up his two flags, the judge once again, commanded them to begin.

"Right Bright, use Water Gun!"

"Bulbasaur, use Razor Leaf to deflect it." Bulbasaur's Razor Leaf sliced right through the Water Gun, sending the water off in all directions, the leaves hit Lanturn squarely in the face, seemingly causing major damage, well the announcer thought so.

"Now Bulbasaur, use Vine Whip!" Bulbasaur's long, slender vines flew across the battlefield towards Lanturn, before they hit, Ritchie managed to get in his next command,

"Bright, use Thunderbolt!" Just as Bulbasaur's vines smacked Lanturn, it executed a Thunderbolt before Bulbasaur could dodge which travelled along the vines and hit Bulbasaur full on, on the other side of the battlefield.

"And it looks like Bulbasaur and Bright both took some _serious_ damage from those last attacks."

"Come on Bulbasaur, get up buddy," Ash pleaded. Bulbasaur sprang to its feet, at the sound of Ash's voice, with a joyous cry of 'Bulbasaur'. Ash glanced across the field to see Lanturn was ready and rearing to go, even though it looked far too tired out to battle any longer, he turned his gaze to his pokémon to see that it too, was also exhausted.

"Right Bulbasaur, I think you've still got a Solar Beam in ya!" Bulbasaur immediately began gathering sunlight in its bulb. Ritchie panicked, knowing if Bulbasaur's attack hit Lanturn, it would be out the battle for good,

"Bright, hit Bulbasaur with a Thunder and end this quickly!" Lanturn sent out its powerful electricity, but it was too late, as Bulbasaur had finished gathering energy. A huge bright beam blasted out, colliding with Lanturn's Thunder attack, forcing it back the way it came, as soon as it came within close proximity of Lanturn, it blasted outwards, lighting up the whole stadium, blinding the crowd with its bright light. As soon as the light died down, Lanturn could be seen in the water, the judge held up his red flag,

"Lanturn is unable to battle, Bulbasaur wins."

Ash punched the air in triumph

"Way to go Bulbasaur!" He held up its pokéball, "But I think you'd better rest a while, 'till I use you again."

As the commentator, filled the audience in on this, he waited patiently for Ritchie to choose his next pokémon. He didn't have to wait long, as Ritchie almost immediately threw a pokéball into the arena,

"Cruise, I choose you!" Ritchie's huge Tyranitar loomed over Ash, who made his choice of pokémon, not intimidated by Tyranitar's sheer size,

"Snorlax, I choose you!"Ash's huge, yet incredibly lazy appeared, its size rivalling Tyranitar's.

"Ash has chosen a Snorlax, to battle Ritchie's Tyranitar, looks like it's a battle of power, not speed here folks." The judge held up his flags and ordered them to start, as usual, Ritchie went first,

"Right Cruise, use Hyper Beam!"

"Snorlax, counter it with your Hyper Beam!" The two pokémon began charging up their orange beams, finishing at exactly the same moment. As the two Hyper Beams collided, there was a huge explosion, and both pokémon were sent flying backwards, despite their weight.

"And it looks like that explosion caused some serious damage to both trainers' pokémon."

"Now Cruise, use Take Down!" Ash racked his brain for an attack, but Tyranitar had already begun charging at Snorlax, so he just commanded the first thing that came to mind,

"Snorlax, use Ice Punch on Tyranitar as it gets close." Snorlax got ready and as Tyranitar was a few feet away, it swung. Tyranitar was too fast though, and Snorlax got hit with a head-on Take Down attack.

"Now Cruise, hit it with a Sandstorm attack!" A huge whirlwind of dust and sand began thundering towards Snorlax.

"Snorlax quick hit the sandstorm with an Ice Punch!" Snorlax swung at the storm, but once again, it was too slow, Snorlax was hit by the Sandstorm full blast. It was lifted off the floor slightly and then promptly dropped as the Sandstorm faded away.

"Looks like Snorlax has taken an awful lot of damage, will Ash be able to turn things around?"

"Cruise, Hyper Beam one more time!"

"You too Snorlax, Hyper Beam!" For the second time, they began charging their orange beams, sending them at each other at the exact same moment. The beams collided with such almighty force, that the explosion shook the whole stadium. As the smoke cleared, both pokémon lay on the floor, struggling to get up. Tyranitar succeeded but Snorlax, however, could not find the strength to get up, it slumped back down on the ground again. The judge held up his green flag,

"Snorlax is unable to battle, Tyranitar wins."

"It looks like Ash and Ritchie are tied as both have four pokémon left, as soon as one of the trainers gets down to three, they will have a short break, but who will it be?" Ash thought for a moment, he didn't want to use a new pokémon, knowing the ones he had left, but he knew Bulbasaur was weak. He glanced across the field to Tyranitar, taking in its physical condition, then he just followed his instinct and chose the pokéball his hand was subconsciously itching to throw.

"Go Bulbasaur, you can do it!"

"Bulbasaur!" it cried, still sounding as happy as it did before, not intimidated by the size of its opponent. The judge held up both flags, ordering them to begin.

"Cruise, use Dig, then Take Down!" Instantly Tyranitar disappeared under the battlefield, Bulbasaur glanced around nervously, unable to find any sign of Tyranitar's location.

"Bulbasaur, don't panic, just be ready to hit it with your best Razor Leaf when it comes up." Bulbasaur stopped glancing around and just stood still. The battlefield was quiet. The air was thick with anticipation. Misty began chewing yet another one of her nails, having already chewed through three. Ash knew Ritchie had trained his Tyranitar to wait until the true signs of the other trainer's nervousness showed through, but Ash refused to let his show, knowing he must keep cool head to win this. After what seemed like an eternity, Tyranitar roared from the ground, shocking the crowd from their nervous trance. Bulbasaur's Razor Leaf hit it dead on, but it still managed to find strength to attack, striking Bulbasaur with a Take Down. Both Tyranitar and Bulbasaur were incredibly weak from their previous battles, and whoever took the next attack would probably lose. So Ash knew his next attack needed to count, but he needed time. Ritchie, however seemed to have it all planned out,

"Cruise, use Hyper Beam!" Ash smiled, this attack was what he wanted, it gave him time."Bulbasaur, use Solar Beam!" This started a race, who could charge up their beam the fastest? The concentration on both Bulbasaur and Tyranitar's faces was immense, neither wanted to let their trainer down. They seemed to finish at exactly the same moment. Both beams hurtled towards each other at lightning speed. Orange collided with white in a huge explosion that caused parts of the stadium to crumble. A thick smoke caused temporary blindness and many coughing fits, as it cleared, a huge crater was revealed. In its depths, both Bulbasaur and Tyranitar could be seen. The judge held both flags out to the side, "Tyranitar and Bulbasaur are unable to battle, this match is a draw."

"Well in this unusual turn of events, both trainers are tied at three pokémon each, they will now have a fifteen minute break before resuming the match." Ash was shocked, he had never expected that, he returned Bulbasaur to its pokéball, before turning to go inside, when a news article that was now playing on the big screen caught his attention.

"… so sad. In other news, a brave rescue team has decided to go into the depths of the Anatonian Rainforest in search of the missing explorer Gary Ketchum…" Ash gasped, in the corner of his eye Ash could see this news had grabbed his mother's attention too.

"…after his disappearance ten years ago while searching for the mysterious Ruins of Anatonia."Ash could feel his emotions welling up inside, so he quickly ran to the toilets and locked the door before he would have to face anyone. He knew this could end up being a good thing, but he didn't need it now, anytime, but now. He sat in silence on the top of the toilet, his feet resting on the seat, rocking gently from side to side. He heard the announcer call his name so he attempted to pull himself together before heading outside.

"The second half of our match between Ash and Ritchie will now begin." The judge held his flags down,

"Trainers, choose your pokémon."

"Zippo I choose you!" Ritchie's Charmeleon had evolved again, he now had a Charizard, and a big one too.

"Totodile, I choose you!" Ash was shouting, but his voice lacked the vibrant energy it usually contained, anyone who knew Ash could notice this easily enough. He looked so glum too, even Totodile's cheery celebration dance failed to perk him up in the slightest. Misty glanced worriedly from the crowd, ' it must be that report about Gary Ketchum,' she thought, 'he saw that, disappeared, then comes out all glum, Delia also looks pretty unhappy, must be one of his relatives then.' She turned her attention back to the match as Totodile was hurled across the field after receiving a glancing blow from one of Charizard's Slash attacks. Brock winced,

"Ooh, that's gotta hurt." Misty sighed, it was quite obvious Charizard was stronger than Totodile, but Totodile had Ash's stubbornness and wasn't going to give up. The battle seemed to perk up a bit for Totodile, the chances of Charizard winning easily had reduced, but then a powerful Seismic Toss knocked it out for good. The judge held up his green flag,

"Totodile is unable to battle, Charizard wins!" Ritchie punched the air in celebration,

"Way to go Zippo!" Ash just shrugged, not seeming to be that bothered. He indicated lamely with his hand for Pikachu to join the battle. The yellow pokémon hopped to its feet, scampering to the battlefield, pausing briefly to look its troubled trainer in the face. The judge ordered them to start once again.

"Zippo, use Flamethrower!"

"Pikachu, use Thunderbolt."

"Pika-CHUUUUU!" Pikachu let out an almighty blast of electricity, that beat back Charizard's flames and struck it dead on. It collapsed to the floor.

"Charizard is unable to battle, Pikachu wins."

"Amazing, in just one move, Pikachu has knocked out Ritchie's Charizard, but what will he choose to battle Pikachu next?"

"Blade I choose you!"

"And he's chosen a Sceptile!"

"Pikachu, Sceptile , let the battle begin." The battle was a long and tedious one, with neither pokémon having a particularly strong advantage over the other one, so transpired into a 'who can last the longest?' This meant that Misty went through several more fingernails. In the end, Pikachu won, but only just, and Ash knew there was no way it could face Sparky, so instead of battling unnecessarily, he returned Pikachu, leaving him with one other choice.

"Ash has chosen to return Pikachu instead of using it to battle Ritchie's Pikachu, so what will he pick as his final pokémon?"

Ash took hold of his final pokéball, this was it, he had to win this, he threw it into the arena,

"Charizard, I choose you!" Ritchie gasped, he remembered his last encounter with Charizard, it had refused to battle and gone to sleep in the middle of the field despite Ash's pleas. It cost Ash the match. Charizard roared and shot a huge flame into the air.

"Charizard, use Flamethrower!"

"Sparky use Quick Attack!" Sparky began charging at Charizard, dodging its Flamethrower attacks easily. Ritchie was about to celebrate his attack hitting, when he realised it hadn't. Charizard had hold of Sparky in its hands, it had grabbed hold of Sparky to stop the attack. Ash briefly smiled,

"Charizard, use Seismic Toss!" Pushing off from the ground, Charizard soared into the air with Sparky, who was hitting it with Thunderbolts to try and break free, even though they were hitting, Charizard carried on, now it was spinning around. Charizard suddenly dived, speeding towards the Earth, then it threw Sparky down onto the floor. It looked like Ash had won for a moment, but then Sparky manage to get on its feet, determined to battle. Charizard looked pretty tired too, all those Thunderbolts had taken their toll.

"Charizard use Dragon Rage!"

"Sparky dodge it, then use Quick Attack."

"Charizard, fly up and dodge it!" This continued, Charizard attacking and Sparky dodging and Sparky attacking and Charizard dodging, until Ash and Ritchie finally realised it wasn't going to work (and that took quite a while). Ash got an idea then, he just needed one last, powerful attack to finish Sparky off and he had just the one,

"Charizard, let's show 'em your Blast Burn!" Ritchie's brow furrowed, he had no idea what this attack was, so he just ordered Sparky to dodge it, little did he realise, this was no use. The ground started to shake as it had before, Sparky dashed around the field, unaware of what was happening. Then, a huge jet of fire, blasted out of the ground, right underneath Sparky, throwing it several feet into the air. It fell down, just about managed to get up, when another blast hit it, lifting it up higher this time. This happened a third and final time, leaving Sparky on the floor, now unable to get up. The judge held up his red flag,

"Pikachu is unable to battle, Charizard wins. The winner of this match is Ash, from Pallet Town." The was a sudden uproar from the crowd, his friends were all cheering madly, except for his mom, who was still a bit subdued. Ash gave a half-hearted attempt at celebration, before trudging back inside.

*****

After being unable to find Ash anywhere else, Misty assumed he was in his room at the Pokémon Centre. Sure enough, there he was, sitting curled up in a ball, his head buried in his knees. Misty sat down next to him and put her hand on his shoulder,

"Ash what's wrong?"

"Nothing," he mumbled.

"Ash, is it about Gary Ketchum?" Silence. She tried another tactic "Ash please, who was he then?" This seemed to work, he uncurled slightly, lifted his head and looked straight in her eye,

"He's my father."

*****

Sorry, this chapter was mostly a battle, but it had to be done, although we're quite a way into the story, the Indigo League is not the main theme for this story, the main storyline will appear later. I hope you enjoyed this Chapter, I'll get Chapter 12 written up soon, but it will mostly be the story of Gary Ketchum. I'll get the League over with a.s.a.p. Please review for me, a huge thanks to all my reviewers so far, and I'll be back again soon.


	10. Bad Press

Sorry it's taken me even longer to publish this time, but I had my birthday, then I went on holiday, I had this Chapter written out too, but ran out of time to type it up, so my fingers are aching as I was typing this up for most of yesterday. Once again, a new character is introduced, but this time he is definitely alive, and will be making an entrance quite soon…

Disclaimer: I still don't own Pokémon, or Austin Powers, but I do own this story and any characters and character backgrounds I make up.

But for now I can proudly present, Chapter 12, Enjoy!

Chapter 12 – Bad Press

Misty looked at him apologetically,

"Oh Ash, I'm so sorry, I didn't realise, when you didn't tell us about him, I assumed you never knew him or something." She risked glancing into his eyes, a pleading look on her face, "Will you tell me now?" He just shrugged. "Oh come on Ash, it was so long ago now and if you bottle up you'll only end up mucking up your battle with Jasmine."

"Fine," he muttered bitterly, before forcing his tone to brighten to begin the story. "My Dad, he was an explorer, always going away on trips to remote places. When I was seven, he was offered a chance to go search for the Ruins of Anatonia he didn't want to go a first, but they managed to convince him to give in and soon…

_The father bent down to ruffle his son's hair,_

"_Don't worry mate, I'll be back before ya know it."_

_"Buuut Daaaaad," the boy whined. "Six months is a really long time."_

_"Ash, I've already told you, it'll probably take less than six months." He closed down the boot of the 4x4 and walked back to his wife standing in the doorway. He pulled her into a hug._

_"I'll miss you Gary," she mumbled. He tried to look down into her saddened eyes but she was avoiding his,_

_"I'll miss you too." They both leaned in for a kiss, but stopped at the sound of their son making puking noises,_

_"Eeew, quit the lovey-dovey stuff will ya?" His parents laughed and made do with a quick peck on the lips. Gary walked back to the Land Rover and climbed in the driver's seat,_

_"Bye Dad!"_

_"Bye Ash, bye Delia."_

_"Bye honey," She waved sadly as her husband reversed slowly out the drive, while her son was eagerly bouncing about, waving both arms above his head. She hated him leaving, but there was nothing she could do to stop it. She forced her smile to grow wider and her wave to become stronger, as Gary waved crazily through the window, sticking his tongue out at Ash before speeding off into the distance…_

_… _last time I ever saw him. After that, we waited seven months until five of the seven archaeologists came out, telling stories about how they got separated but mainly about the horrors of the jungle. But he had his Poliwrath with him, so maybe that's why they thought he still had a chance…"

"Ash I really am sorry, I didn't know." He seemed to just shrug it off,

"Don't worry, I'm probably over-reacting making everyone worry about me," he rolled his eyes at Misty's patronising look. "Really, I'm fine."

She sighed, then glanced at the clock, "We probably should get going to Jasmine's I told the others I'd meet them there in a bit."

"Well let's go then." Gathering their overnight things, Ash and Misty wandered out the Pokémon Centre and up the main road towards the Champion Mansion as the sun began it's slow descent from the sky.

***

Jasmine glanced through the window again and sighed,

"It's taking Nika an awful long time to get those Juice2O's."

"Don't worry Jasmine, maybe the off-licence was closed and she had to go somewhere else."

"Hmm, but these streets are so dangerous at night."

"Jasmine, this is Nika we're talking about, you know the girl who managed to fend off six Galactic grunts with a broom."

"I know that Lance, but she still has her injuries from the Team Rocket incident."

"And they didn't stop her from attacking the base and engaging in combat with you." Ash snorted, causing Jasmine to shoot him a dangerous glare, he tried to innocently protest with a,

"What? It was funny." Before Jasmine could pursue it further, the front door was slammed closed, it obviously ricocheted open again since it was slammed closed a second time with noticeably less force, after some fierce cursing. Jasmine gave the room a warning glance

"She's in a mood." Ash was about to question the statement, when the door to the lounge was flung open, so hard, it bounced off the sofa. Nika stormed across the room to Jasmine and threw a magazine at her before seizing hold of her bag and storming out again, muttering venomously the whole time.

Jasmine lifted the magazine to her face as her eyes scanned the cover and she gasped, then her face darkened and she slammed the magazine on the coffee table, and then followed her sister's example by storming out of the room. Ash looked around the stunned room his eyes pleading for someone to offer an explanation.

Lance followed suit, and picked up the magazine, "She didn't even read it, but it set her on the warpath." His eyes rested on a particular point and widened in horror. Raising his eyes to the group he gave them a warning, "Stay here, I need to stop them." He turned on his heel but instead of stomping, he sprinted out the room after the two furious young women about to wreck havoc, wherever they were bound.

Ash, Misty, Brock and Dawn just glared at the magazine like it was cursed and touching it would turn them into the human form of a rampaging Gyrados. In fact no-one moved until the sound of footsteps on the path snapped them out of their trance and at the sound of the door, Dawn sprang to her feet with an unusual energy and ran out the room with a cry of, "I'll get it!"

She pulled the door open with the same joyous energy and greeted the young man with an ecstatic cry,

"Ritchie!" The young man forced a smile, though he was confused as to this strange girl was to be greeting him with such velocity, even though he had no idea who he was.

"Err, hi …" he paused, hoping the girl would offer her name.

"Dawn," she had managed to tone her voice down slightly, but she still had that unnerving grin that spread from ear to ear.

"Jasmine invited me," he stated, gesturing to come in, Dawn obliged, moving in slightly so he could pass. She followed him into the lounge, where he collapsed dramatically on the sofa , blowing out through his mouth like a horse. He looked from Ash, to Brock, to Misty, who were all still eyeing the magazine with caution.

"What's going on here?" Ash was the first to acknowledge Ritchie's presence.

"We have no idea, Nika and Jasmine just stormed out, then Lance followed."

"But his something to do with that magazine," Misty put in, pointing feebly at it, almost as if she expected it to jump up and bite her finger off. Ritchie sighed and leant forward to pick it up off the table. His eyes too, widened at the cover, but he began to calmly read it out loud,

"'Sinnoh Champ: the Secret Lovers she kept concealed.' Mmm… I wonder what story they came up with this time." He muttered the last part, like he half knew who the article would feature anyway. "Oh… 'Her sister finds love too'? Well that would definitely tick Jasmine off, she hates it when her and Lance are referred to as a couple." Misty gave him a confused look,

"How d'ya know that?"

"Lance, and therefore Jasmine, are my friends."

"Oh, then do you know Nika then too."

"Not as well as her sister, but then she hasn't left Sinnoh very much before." Ritchie noticed people were now eyeing the magazine in his hands expectantly,

"Would you like me to read the article?" After a series of nods, her found the correct page, and cleared his throat, when Brock chipped in,

"Actually Ritchie, would you mind if I read it?"

"Not at all." He leaned forward with the magazine, Brock took it and sat back, checking he had his listeners' attention by clearing his thoat.

"'Her recent exploits with friends in Kanto seem to have brought, not only adventure, but romance for Nika Rowan. Si-'"

"Nika's surname's Rowan?" Ritchie rolled his eyes; he should've seen this one coming.

"Yes Ash, and, before you ask she _is _related to Professor Rowan, and if I'm right, which I'm pretty sure I am, he's her grandad's cousin." Brock let out an irritated sigh,

"Can I carry on?" Since nobody responded, he took no objections as a sign to start again. "_Since _she became the Sinnoh Champion four years ago, Nika, 18, has created speculation over her interesting friendship with Alexander Saturn, who many believe to be her _boyfriend_? But recent reports say that her recent travels with Indigo League hopeful, Ash Ketchum, 17, have brought the young Champion increasingly close to his friend BROCK HARRISON?!" Brock sat there, holding his magazine at arm's length, like it was poisonous or reeking, his mouth opening and closing like a fish. Misty's eyes widened and her hand flew to her mouth as she tried to suppress a laugh.

"Where did they get that idea from? All you two do is argue!"

"It says here we 'get along well'," he answered flatly. Misty let out a snort, causing Brock to glare at her, he obviously wasn't getting the same enjoyment out of this as Misty.

Before the current situation turned nasty, Dawn pointedly changed the subject,

"Ritchie, what did you mean before by 'I wonder what story they came up with time'?" The young man looked at her, confused,

"Do you mean when I was reading the title out?"

"Yes."

"I was referring to Nika and Saturn, journalists have been making up all sorts of stories about those two, every since Nika came to fame. Same as Jasmine and Lance really."

"Are they actually, you know, a couple?"

"As far as I know, they're not." Dawn gave Brock a playful nudge,

"Hear that Brocko? She's still free for ya." He scowled in return,

"Shut up!" Ritchie gave Brock a look of surprised concern.

"You like Nika, Brock?"

"No!" He protested defiantly. Ritchie raised his eyebrows and ignored Brock's comment.

"You see, Saturn may be her friend, but he's awfully over-protective when it comes to Nika, if he finds out you like her, he will make you go through all kinds of suffering to see if you are good for her, so watch your back."

"Ritchie, have you met this Saturn guy?"

"Twice. The first time, he thought I was Nika's boyfriend, and that's how I know about his brotherly concern for Nika." Dawn was starting to become intrigued by Ritchie's description,

"Can you tell us any more about him?"

"A little, like I know he raised Nika like a sister, he treats her better than he treats Riley, his brother, he-"

"Riley? Nika's travelling partner?"

"Yeah, you know him?"

"No, she told me about travelling with him."

"Oh. So anyway, Nika's also the only person he's truly nice to and he's the heir to the Canalave Lucario Reserve and its fortune."

"So quite an interesting guy then?"

"He is… different, but you'd have to meet him to get the full picture."

**~**

The desk shook with an almighty force as her hand slammed down on it, the young woman behind it was quivering, unsure of what to do. Her voice rang out through the small office, drawing eyes, even from the farthest parts.

"I DON'T CARE ABOUT US NOT HAVING AN APPOINTMENT AND I DON'T CARE WHETHER YOU CALL SERCURITY OR NOT. I WANT TO SEE THE EDITOR, AND I WANT TO SEE HER NOW!" Nika's hand came down on her sister's shoulder,

"Calm down Jasmine, these people aren't worth it." She flashed a dangerous glare at the assistant, who gulped, before lowering herself until she was looking directly into her eye. She began to speak, her voice low and malicious, dripping with contempt,

"Now see here, we want to go into the editor's office, _without _an appointment to sort our lawsuit out and I don't want any of your feeble excuses. Understand?" The assistant nodded nervously. "I asked a question."

"Y-yes ma'am," she stammered, then she scurried away, into the editor's office. Nika watched her go with a satisfied expression on her face, Jasmine gaped at her sister and Lance gave Nika a knowing smirk,

"I believe one would learn to speak to people like that by observing a certain Mr. Saturn?"

"Where else would I learn the art of being evil from?" Nika and Lance exchanged bemused looks and simultaneously lifted their little fingers to their mouths and pretended to stroke 'Mr. Tiddlesworth' while laughing manically. Jasmine hit them both across the back of the head (well at least tried, she couldn't reach Lance's).

"Will you two quit the Dr. Evil impressions? How are we going to be taken seriously with you acting like goons?"

"Sorry Jasmine," they mumbled in unison while looking at their feet like disgraced toddlers, exchanging glances and sniggering occasionally. Jasmine sighed and rolled her eyes,

"Such maturity."

**~**

Ash groaned for the fifty-seventh time that evening, since they had exhausted the topics of Nika, Jasmine, Lance and Saturn, the group had tried other conversational genres but had given up completely. Dawn had become so bored, she had begun counting everyone's sighs and groans. That was Misty's forty-third. Ritchie gave up and delved into his bag, which had been carelessly flung by the sofa when he had entered the room an hour earlier.

"A-ha, found it!" he cried out, startling Brock from his sleep.

"Who? What? Where?" he murmured sleepily, then feeling the people's eyes bearing into him, he opened his eyes properly and bolted up in his seat, "I wasn't asleep."

"Suuurre," Misty muttered sarcastically.

"Well guys I found something we could do," Ritchie brought something out from behind his back theatrically, a tube of,

"Jelly beans?!"

"Yes Misty, jelly beans," then seeing the groups blank expressions, he added.

"For jelly bean roulette." Ash raised an eyebrow, Ritchie sighed exasperatedly, "Like Revels Roulette, but with jelly beans." He looked around desperately, but no-one knew what he was talking about. "Oh, come on guys, you've never heard of Revels Roulette?"

"What are Revels?" Misty rolled her eyes,

"They're sweets Ash, chocolate actually, there are five types, coffee, plain, orange, malteser and raisin, right Ritchie."

"Uh-huh, Revels roulette is basically, you take turns to eat Revels blind-folded and as soon as you eat a Revel you don't like, you're out."

"Why play it with jelly beans then?"

"They don't melt in my bag, or go off as quickly."

"Do we have to play this roulette thingy-majig?"

"Do you wanna sit here bored?"

"No, bu-"

"Good, rules are now three hits and you're out, last one standing wins, any questions? No, good. Who's gonna go first?"

"Oooh, me, me, me ,me!" Misty gave her friend a withering look,

"Ash, you always want to go first, let someone else go." She looked at Brock and Dawn expectantly, but neither volunteered, "I'll go then."

"All righty then." Ritchie got his black blindfold and put it on Misty. He hold the tube in front of her, "Choose your Jelly Bean." Misty put her hand in the tube and brought out a red bean with yellow dots, Ritchie grimaced he knew that flavour, Misty began to chew.

**~**

A/N: There was Chapter 12, I have most of Chapter 13 written out, but it still needs typing up, that should be published within a week. I hope you liked it, please review. I would like to give my special thanks to Texas Longhorn who has recommended my story several times in his fic, A New Journey, I suggest you give it a read, it's very good. Anyone slight confused by jelly bean roulette, I was eating jelly beans when I first wrote this, but I think it's quite a good idea all the same. I apologise to any foreigners, if you don't know what some things are that I refer to now or later in the story, if you don't understand what any English things mentioned are, I will gladly explain them. I don't know if you have Revels in your countries, but if you don't you're missing out, they're great.

PrincesS_Tiger


	11. Let the Battle Begin

A/N: Chapter 13 is here. Sorry it's late, I've had homework to do, it really sucks to have to do it over the summer. I've also had to tidy my room, buy school uniform for next year, and try and think what to get for my mum's birthday. I would also like to point out that I still don't own Pokémon or any of its affiliated companies, if I did, I wouldn't be writing this fanfiction.

Chapter 13 – Let the Battle Begin.

"I think I'm gonna puke," Ash groaned, clutching his stomach.

"Pika, pika," Pikachu poked Ritchie indignantly, who passed him the tube of beans,

"Your turn Pikachu." The yellow pokémon placed a bean his mouth and smiled,

"Pika-chu." Ash groaned as Ritchie held out the tube and pushed it away,

"No more beans." Ritchie sighed,

"Since Ash is unable to continue, I declare Pikachu the winner of Jelly Bean Roulette round five, and our Champion this evening." The others let out sarcastic cheers, having long given up trying to beat Ash or Pikachu.

"Ritchie, why can Pikachu eat so many jelly beans?"

"I have no idea, but Sparky loves them too. Although, he couldn't eat as many as Pikachu can." He gave the dancing yellow pokémon a dubious look.

"Maybe it has something to do with Ash's huge stomach, as he and Pikachu are very alike."

Dawn groaned again, "Can we go to bed now?"

"Dawn, it's ten o'clock."

"But I still wanna go to bed," she complained.

"If you like, I'll show you were the bedrooms are, but we're sharing." He stood up slowly and the others followed suit. "Come on, this way."

**~**

Nika, danced down the street ahead of Jasmine and Lance, oblivious to the strange looks and comments she was receiving. In fact, she didn't pay attention to anything, until she crashed into a young man who was lugging a suitcase.

"Oh I'm sorry…" she stopped as she recognised him, "Riley?"

"Oh, hello Nika, why the good mood?"

"I'll tell you later, did you get an earlier flight or summat?"

"Yeah, but Alex couldn't, he'll be here later."

"Well it's good to see you again."She pulled him into a hug, then in one swift motion, pulled the blue hat off his head and ran down the street with it, laughing hysterically.

"Nika, come back here with my hat!" He hollered after her, then sighed, and turned to Jasmine and Lance, who had reached him by now.

"Hello Riley, I see you've got rid of your sad old hat?"

"No, Nika ran off with it."

"Why does that not surprise me?" She gestured to the suitcase, "Here, Lance will carry that, you go get your hat back." She picked the suitcase up and dumped it in Lance's hand.

"Do I get no say in the matter?" he complained, but he knew the answer already. Jasmine ignored him anyway, and sighed with satisfaction, as Riley sprinted after he sister to get his beloved hat back.

When they reached the house, Riley was still in pursuit of Nika as she ran round the garden, hat now on her head. She sighed as she opened the door, and Nika ran inside, up the stairs and into her bedroom slamming the door behind her, Riley followed but proceeded to bang on the door,

"Nika give me my hat back!" Noticed the others had probably gone to bed, she went into the kitchen to make her and Lance a coffee, while he took the suitcase upstairs.

Nika sat on her bed with a triumphant expression on her face, Misty looked at her curiously,

"Whose is the hat?"

"Riley's, I stole it."

"Is that who's banging on the door the then?"

"Uh-huh." Just then, Dawn wandered out of the en-suite, dressed for bed,

"Hi Nika, you're back."

"Yep, we won." Then there was another muffled yell from outside,

"Nika, give me my hat!"

"NO!" Dawn gave the door a puzzled look,

"Who's that?"

"Riley, I stole his hat."

"Are you going to give it back?"

"In a while, he's not agitated enough yet."

"Nika, I demand that you give my hat back NOW!"

"You see, now he is, he'll threaten me with Lucario in a moment." Sure enough, another yell came,

"Nika, you have until the count of three before I get Lucario to break the door down. One…"

Nika turned to Misty and Dawn, who were both amazed and confused

"How did you know that?"

"Enough practice."

"…Two…"

"He won't do it you know."

"…Three…" Nika stood up slowly and opened the door, taking the hat off her head and handing it to him.

"Thanks," he poked his head round the door, "Who are they?"

"That's Misty, and that's Dawn." He lifted his hat to them ,

"Hello ladies, please excuse me a moment." His footsteps could be heard running off down the corridor Nika sighed and closed the door, flopping down on her bed.

"I need sleep, I've gotta help with Ash's training tomorrow."

**~**

Ash waltzed down the stairs to where Nika and Misty where waiting for him.

"Training to day!" He cheered in sing-song voice. Misty crossed her arms and gave him one of her looks,

"What drugs are you on this morning Ash Ketchum?"

Nika shouted up the stairs, "Hey Jasmine, we're gonna go train, can we use the pool?"

"Whatever,"

"Great, I haven't used Geoffrey in ages." There was a pause,

"Nika don't you dare go near that pool with your Gyrados!" Ash gave Nika a worried glance,

"Does that mean we can't train then?"

"No, there's a lake, out back. I just asked her to wind her up."

"Why?"

Nika shrugged, "It's fun."

The three of them wandered to the forest behind the house, and sure enough there was a huge lake. Misty and Nika let their huge water pokémon free, and turned to Ash expectantly.

"Ash, what do you want our Gyrados for?"

"To train mine."

"You have a Gyrados?" He set it free, just to prove his point, and Nika's immediately swam over and began flirting with it. Nika groaned and shook her head,

"Great, I forgot Geoffrey was the Gyrados version of Brock." The group watched in horror, as Ash's Gyrados rejected him, quite painfully.

"And it looks like I have the Gyrados version of Misty." Misty hit him over the head with her bag. Then the heavens opened. Nika sighed, this was going to be one eventful training session.

**~**

Nika sat in the executive box, only reserved for friends and family of the two finalists. She was sweating, the heat was unbearable. This was especially odd, since it was raining heavily yesterday. She got her fan out her bag, Brock leaned forward, to try and get some of the cool air she was generating. She offered him a second one, he turned his nose up at the girly object, so she offered it to Riley instead, who accepted. Brock tried to use his hand instead. He sure felt sorry for Ash, at least the stands offered them some shelter.

Ash and Jasmine stood at opposite ends of the field, ready to start. Ash gave Pikachu a glance,

"Are you ready Pikachu?"

"Pika," It replied, getting into battle stance.

"Trainers, choose your pokémon," Both selected the pokéballs, Ash begged for Nika's guess on Jasmine's pokémon to be right, he had no hope otherwise.

"Charizard, I choose you!"

"Gyrados, I choose you!" Nika smiled, she was glad, she had picked up on her sister's unusual strategy, strongest pokémon first, she only used it if she deemed her opponent strong enough, and her Charizard was definitely one to beat.

The judge held up his flags, "Charizard, Gyrados let the battle begin."

"Charizard, Seismic Toss!" Ash watched in horror, as his pokémon was carried high into the air.

"Gyrados, use bite." Charizard's roar could be heard clearly, as the water pokémon's teeth clamped onto his neck. "Now hit it with a Hydro-pump!" Ash glanced over at Jasmine's expressionless face which changed into a smile as Charizard threw Gyrados to the floor.

"Gyrados, use Hydro-pump on the floor!" Jasmine's smile faded, as an enormous jet of water, spurted from Gyrados's mouth, propelling her into the air. The long blue tail wrapped around Charizard's neck, who struggled to get it off. Both trainers watched in fascination at their pokémon's mid-air struggle, and it was only when Gyrados attacked Charizard with a short range Dragon Rage, unordered and let him free, did either take proper action.

"Charizard, use Flamethrower on the pool!" She ordered, Ash knew what she was doing, he'd done it before, Charizard would need to be close to evaporate the water,

"Gyrados, stay underwater, but use Thunder!" Jasmine looked just as shocked as she did horrified, when a huge yellow beam came out of the water and engulfed the huge red dragon. Ash ordered Gyrados out from the depths of the water and both pokémon faced each other, panting heavily, but both were still standing.

"Charizard, Seismic Toss, one more time!"

"Gyrados, let it take you up!" Ash's pokémon seemed a little confused by this statement, but it didn't struggle as Charizard grabbed it and flew it into the air,

"Now, begin charging up!" From where Charizard was circling in the air with Gyrados, as could see and orange ball forming in her mouth, Jasmine saw it too and panicked,

"Charizard, come down now!" Ash smirked, it was what he wanted,

"Gyrados, roll so Charizard is under you, then hit it with Hyper Beam!" The stadium watched in silence at the mid-air struggle that followed, Gyrados won. It's Hyper Beam slammed in Charizard and pushed it into the floor. The collision caused a cloud of dust to fly up, obscuring the view. The stadium held its breath. From the crater that had formed on the battle field, Charizard emerged, it let out a roar of defiance, refusing to give up. Then it collapsed from exhaustion. A red flag was held in Ash's direction,

"Charizard is unable to battle, Gyrados wins." The announcer, was for once lost for words, no-one had been able to take Charizard down before, no-one. The crowd was silent as Jasmine sent out her second pokémon,

"Gyrados, I choose you!" The judge held up his flags,

"Gyrados and Gyrados, let the battle begin!" Without waiting for the other, both trainers commanded their attacks,

"Gyrados, use Hyper Beam!" Both pokémon instantaneously charged up their orange beams, but Jasmine's Gyrados was done first, since he wasn't as fatigued, it blasted out and hit Ash's Gyrados straight in the face. She collapsed, unable to fight anymore. The judge signalled to Jasmine with his green flag. Her strongest pokémon may have gone, but this battle was far from over.

**~**

A/N: Sorry it was so short, but I wanted to put the whole battle in this chapter, but I figured to do it as the next chapter, since this was a day late, I'll see if I can get Chapter 14 published early, then I'll go back to weekly updates, but for now I want to thank,

Texas Longhorn – for his recommendations of this story in his and his several reviews,

And PerlaNemesis- for her countless reviews.

Princess_Tiger


	12. The Fiery Final

A/N: Here is Chapter 14, early as promised. I won't blab on for too long, you all know the deal, I don't own Pokémon, never have, highly unlikely that I ever will. Nor do I own any other songs, films of franchises mentioned in this story.

Chapter 14 – The Fiery Final

"Gyrados is unable to battle, Sceptile wins!" Ash glanced up at the board, then at his Sceptile, it was panting heavily, if he let it battle the next pokémon, it would lose, he'd have to go with another option,

"Sceptile return!" Jasmine eyed him curiously, then sent out the pokémon she was going to use anyway. A Pidgeot, good job he returned Sceptile. He knew what pokémon to use, taking the ball in his hand, he smiled as he thought of how strong the pokémon inside it had become.

"Go Swellow!" Judging by the fact she used her Pokédex, Jasmine hadn't seen a Swellow before, he had an advantage.

"Swellow, Pidgeot, let the battle begin!"

"Go Pidgeot, use Thunder!" Or maybe not. Swellow was engulfed by the yellow electricity, but fortunately, it shook it off pretty quickly. Jasmine gaped. In the crowd, Nika turned to Brock,

"How did Swellow do that?"

"It's strong , it can shake off most electric attacks."

"Really? Wow." Focusing her attention, Nika winced as Pidgeot got hit with an Aerial Ace. She could see Jasmine was a little thoughtful , that strategy had worked most times before, so she needed a new one,

"Pidgeot, use Thunder again!"

"Swellow, endure it!"

"Whaa-?" Jasmine and her Pidgeot looked just as confused by this command, but this changed to being horrified, as she saw what had happened. "He used the Thunder as armour?" Using her confusion to his advantage, Ash ordered another Aerial Ace attack. Pidgeot began to plummet towards the ground.

"Looks like Jasmine's in trouble, Ash's use of her attack is really causing problems, can she turn things around?"

"Pidgeot, spin, then pull up from the ground with your Quick Attack!" The bird pokémon began spinning so fast it was just a blur.

"That's fast," he looked up to his pokémon. "Swellow, get ready to dodge!"

"Pidgeot, use Mirror Move!" Before Swellow could dodge, it was hit by Pidgeot's high speed Aerial Ace and began spiralling to the ground.

"Swellow!" Ash cried helplessly.

"Pidgeot, Thunder one last time!"

"Swellow dodge!" But it was no use, the electricity engulfed Swellow again before it could move.

"Swellow, come on, fly up!"

"Looks like that Thunder paralyzed Swellow, could this be the end?" Swellow collided with ground sending up a huge cloud of dust. As it cleared Swellow could be seen in a crater, it was indeed the end.

"Swellow is unable to battle, Pidgeot wins!" Ash begrudgingly returned his bird pokémon, then turned to his little yellow friend,

"You ready to go Pikachu?"

"Pika, pika!"

"Right then," he pointed to the field. "Pikachu, I choose you!" Holding up his flags, the judge commanded them to start.

"Pidgeot, use Twister!"

"Pikachu, dodge it and use your Iron Tail to propel yourself into the air!" Pikachu, artfully dodged the whirlwind, then slammed his glowing tail into the ground so he flew up towards Pidgeot.

"Now see if you can get hold and use Thunderbolt!" Pikachu managed to grab hold of a wind and while Pidgeot was trying to shake him off, hit her with a barrage of Thunderbolts. "Pikachu use Iron Tail!" Pikachu's tail began to glow again, then pushing down on the wing, pushed himself above, then hit Pidgeot in the middle of her back, causing the great bird pokémon to plummet towards the ground, like Swellow had done before.

"Pidgeot is unable to battle, Pikachu wins."

"Well that Ladies and Gentlemen was a brilliant first half, we will now have a short break before resuming."

**~**

Ash sat in the little room he had been given, surrounded by his friends. After a few moments of restrained conversation, he let the excited buzz he was feeling come out, by jumping up with a cheer, drowning out the compliments he was receiving,

"I'm winning!" Misty rolled her eyes, and Ash was suddenly quietened by the amount of stern looks he was receiving. While he was being lectured on not becoming 'too full of himself', Nika slipped down the corridor to see Jasmine, and hearing music from her room, she decided to make an entrance,

"I know it's outta fashion, and a trifle uncool, but I can't help it I'm a romantic fool!" Jasmine groaned and shook her head,

"Nika, what are you doing?"

"Singing."

"Really? I couldn't tell."

"You're one to talk, you're singing's worse than mine!"

"Oh Yeah?"

"Yeah!" Then both sisters laughed and grabbed a hairbrush and beginning a rather tuneless rendition of the rest of the song, trying continuously to outdo one another. Their mother, Diana sighed and looked to Lance and Riley for support, they just shrugged and looked away. Riley smirked at Lance's expression as Jasmine belted out her line even louder.

"You know, you can still get out."

"Not really, I'm just as stuck with them as you are." Oblivious to the agony of the people in the room, the sisters turned the volume up on their painful rendition even more,

"From nine to five I have to spend my time at work, my job is very boring I'm an office clerk, the only thing that helps me pass the time away, is knowing I'll be back at Echo Beach someday!" As the instrumental began, they collapsed on the bench in a fit of giggles. Riley turned to Lance,

"Still sure, you can't find a way out?"

"I might be able to find a way," he muttered jokingly.

By some stroke of good luck for Nika and Jasmine, and bad luck for the others, the song finished as they were called to start the second half of the match. So Riley, Lance and Diana trudged back to their seats, with the sisters' atrocious singing still playing in their heads.

Back in the open air, the weather seemed to have become even warmer, so Jasmine had to discard the cape she wore to mark her status. Most of the audience now had makeshift fans in the form of concertinaed programmes. Ash too, had discarded his jacket, but refused to remove his hat.

"Trainers, choose your pokémon." Jasmine looked at her three remaining pokéballs, trying to decide who to pick, taking one in her hand, she threw it into the arena,

"Victreebel I choose you!" Ash sighed, he couldn't use Charizard, not yet, he was saved for someone else, so he chose another fire type,

"Go, Cyndaquil!"

"Use Solar Beam!"

"Cyndaquil, use Flamethrower!" Cyndaquil's blasted out but it didn't reach its target, the Solar Beam charged up quicker than usual and blasted the Flamethrower back. Cyndaquil put more power in and the attacks were balanced. Then they exploded throwing both pokémon back. After several more minutes of both pokémon thwarting the others attacks, the crowd was getting a little restless, especially in the uncomfortable heat. Nika routed in her bag and found her music player, automatically handing an earphone to Riley, who smiled at the gesture, it was music time. Putting her battle music playlist on shuffle, Nika smirked and Riley paled when they recognised the introduction,

"No, not Tainted Love…" He put his face in his hands as Nika began to sing along,

"Sometimes I feel, I've got to dun-dun run away, I've got to dun-dun get away, I've got to…" He was pleased as she trailed off, after noticing the glares she was receiving from the people within earshot of her 'singing'. Focusing his attention back on the match once more, he could see that Jasmine's Weavile had been sent out and that Victreebel had fainted, he was pleased in a way, that big plant had a bad attitude. Cyndaquil was having trouble with Weavile now, and Riley wasn't surprised that it was knocked out after a Shadow Ball attack.

Ash glanced at the board, he had Pikachu, Sceptile and Charizard left, two had already battled, picking up his pokéball, he had no doubt he couldn't defeat Weavile with just one more pokémon, he needed to wear it out with another first.

"Sceptile, go!" He knew others would think he was being foolish, a grass type against and ice type, but Sceptile was fast, but then, so was Weavile.

"Weavile, Ice Beam!"

"Sceptile, dodge and use Bullet Seed!" Sceptile waited until the last moment to escape from Weavile's icy beam, but his Bullet Seed attack just missed by inch. Both pokémon continually launched and dodged each other's attacks to the point of exhaustion. When the opposing trainers stopped for a moment, both pokémon stood facing each other, panting heavily. Using the sunlight to his advantage, Ash launched his attack first,

"Sceptile, Solar Beam!"

Jasmine didn't hesitate, "Counter it with Ice Beam!" Ice collided with solar, resulting in an explosion, both pokémon were sent flying. One didn't get up.

"Sceptile is unable to battle, Weavile wins." Ash looked once more to his little yellow pokémon,

"Are you ready to go buddy?"

"Pika, pika," He smiled and once more pointed to the field, where the exhausted Weavile stood,

"Pikachu, I choose you!"

Holding up his flags, the judge, once more, commanded them to begin.

"Go Weavile, use Slash!"

"Pikachu dodge with your Quick Attack, and then use Thunderbolt!" Pikachu dashed around the charging Weavile and unleashed a bright yellow jolt of electricity. Weavile collapsed.

"Weavile is unable to battle, Pikachu wins!"

"Jasmine is down to her last pokémon, while Ash still has two, could this be it for our Champion."

"No," she mumbled, then agitatedly ran a hand through her long dark her, addressing the pokéball in other hand with a quiet, "Don't fail me now." She released the pokémon inside, "Dragonite, I choose you!"

"Pikachu, Thunderbolt!"

"Dragonite, dodge it, then use Blizzard!" As Pikachu's bolt of electricity was inches from Dragonite, she flew up and blasted an icy wind straight at Pikachu, forcing it back into the wall.

"Pikachu!" Ash cried out, but fortunately for him, he jumped out the hole in the wall and back onto the battle field, with a determined 'pika'. "Use Iron Tail!"

"Dragonite, use Iron Tail too!" Both pokémon headed for each other, their tails beginning to glow. At the same instant, both tails collided with each other, but Dragonite, being stronger, threw Pikachu off. The little yellow mouse hit the floor, but struggled up again. Ash knew one more attack from the Dragonite would finish Pikachu off, so he had one good chance,

"Pikachu, Quick Attack into Volt Tackle!" Pikachu began dashing across the field towards Dragonite, starting to glow black, with a bright yellow electrical streak behind it.

"Dragonite, use Flare Blitz!" Dragonite began to glow red, with a coat of fire around it.

Both pokémon, one glowing red, one glowing black, collided with a bang, as electricity met fire. The collision caused both pokémon to ricochet back, Dragonite saved itself from falling using her wings, but Pikachu fell to the floor. He struggled to stand, and had barely managed it, before he fell back down. The judge declared Dragonite the winner as Ash scooped up Pikachu into his arms,

"Are you okay, Pikachu?" The little yellow mouse opened his eyes and nodded in reply. "You put up a good fight little buddy." Ash placed Pikachu gently on the floor and grabbed hold of his final pokéball .

"Charizard I choose you!" In a flash of red light, the great red dragon materialised on the field with a mighty roar. Ash smirked at Jasmine's horrified expression, there was no way he could lose.

"Charizard, Flamethrower!"

"Dragonite, Dragon Breath!" Both attacks met in the middle, but gradually, Charizard's began to push nearer to Dragonite.

"Go Charizard, maximum power!"

"You too Dragonite!" Once again, Charizard's attack began edging closer to Dragonite, but faster this time and within a few seconds, Dragonite was hit by a full power Flamethrower, knocking it back a few feet.

"Now Charizard, Seismic Toss!" Charizard flew up in the air with Dragonite and began circling in the air, fighting against Dragonite's futile attempts to escape.

"Now hit it with a Blast Burn when you reach the ground!" Charizard began to glow red as it dived for the ground, throwing Dragonite into the centre of the field. Landing swiftly beside her, Charizard started to glow even brighter and flames erupted from the ground, engulfing Dragonite.

"Amazing, in an attack never seen before here in the Indigo Stadium, it looks like Ash's Charizard has beaten the last of Jasmine's unbeatable team!" The judge began to raise his red flag, but stopped, when Dragonite began to slowly stand up.

"But it looks like Jasmine's Dragonite refuses to go without a proper fight."

"Charizard Seismic Toss, one last time!" Picking up the orange dragon once again, Charizard flew up in the air and began circling overhead. On the ground, Jasmine stood, frozen, watching the scene, horrified. From the crowd she heard her sister's voice shouting at her,

"Come on Jasmine order an attack!" As if she had been a trance, Jasmine gave herself a shake a called out to her Dragonite,

"Use Twister!" But she was too late, Charizard had already his rapid dive for the ground. "Dragonite, pull Charizard down with you!" Grabbing hold of Charizard, as he tried to throw her down, pulling them both into a collision with the ground. The stadium shook and a huge cloud of dust flew up, preventing anyone from seeing what had happened.

**~**

A/N: I know you hate me, another cliffhanger, but I'll try and get Chapter 15 up by Monday, not promising though. A little competition here, if in your review you can name both the songs and the artists who sang them, I'll dedicate Chapter 15 to you. Until then, Goodbye from me, Princess Tiger.

P.S Please Review.


	13. End of an Era

A/N: Chapter 15 is here on Monday as promised, kind of short, and a bit of a pointless filler chapter, the ball will be next chapter. Unfortunately, no-one could answer my music quiz last chapter, answers were Echo Beach by Martha and the Muffins, and Tainted Love by Soft Cell, good songs, you should listen to them. Anyway, still don't own Pokémon Franchise.

Chapter 15 – The End of an Era

The cloud began to clear, and Ash could see the silhouette of a pokémon standing triumphantly. The cloud cleared more. It was Charizard. He had won. He was the Champion. He had won. He ran to hug his Charizard, though he was currently incapable of speech. Walking towards him was Jasmine, she was smiling. Her reign as Champion had just been ended by him and she was smiling. Seizing hold of his left wrist with her right hand, Jasmine pulled it up into the air,

"Ladies and Gentlemen, our new Champion!" Ash beamed, everyone in the stadium was cheering, even Jasmine's family and the vaguely familiar hot dog sellers.

The rest of the day passed in a blur for Ash, and it wasn't until when he sat down that evening when he finally received some peace. Ash thought the lounge was quite big, but now with sixteen people squashed in it, it didn't seem quite as grand. The older adults, Professor Oak, Professor Rowan, Delia, Diana and William Rowan (Nika and Jasmine's father), had all claimed the four armchairs, except for Delia, who had managed to fit on the two-seat sofa with Jasmine and Lance, while Misty and Ash had squashed themselves onto the foot stool, leaving Nika, Brock, Dawn, Gary, Tracey, Ritchie, Riley and Nika's cousin Dominic on the floor. They were happily chatting about a variety of topics until the doorbell rang. Being nearest the door, Nika went to answer it. She came back moments later, with a young man,

"Hello everybody,"

"Alex!" Jasmine greeted him. He smiled, and sat down on the arm of the sofa,

"It's so long since I've seen you all,"

"I know, must have been Adam's wedding," Nika added, with a sly smile at Riley, who blushed. Jasmine smiled the same devious grin,

"Ah yes, that was quite a memorable event."

"What happened?" Ash enquired innocently.

"Well you see, Riley here, he-"

"Don't you dare tell them, it was not funny and you don't want to know where I found a piece of chicken."

"Put Riley dear," Diana piped up. "There's nothing to be ashamed of, everyone has their little accidents."

Ash was excited now, especially since Riley's face was a curious shade of tomato,

"What happened?" All eyes fell on Riley, who went even redder, Nika smiled sweetly.

"Go on Riley, tell them what happened." He put his head into his hands, defeated,

"I walked into the buffet table."

Misty smirked, "That sounds like something Ash would do."

"No Misty, you don't understand," Nika put in. "Riley didn't just walk into the table, he _danced_ into the table, with his partner." Riley's face was now bordering on purple, as Misty gave him one of her looks,

"How did you manage that?"

Riley chuckled nervously, his friends would pay for this later, "Well, I sneaked several more champagnes than I was supposed to have," he paused at Jasmine's knowing look, and amended his previous statement. "Fine, I had five champagnes and was a little drunk. I thought it would be clever to dance on the buffet table with my cousin, who I was dancing with, but I missed the table when I tried to dance onto it, destroying the entire display instead." Misty laughed, she was beginning to think Riley was Ash's twin.

"And then he started a food fight." Alex reached into his pocket, pulling out a photo to prove the point, "Don't ask how though, one minute we were laughing at him, next minute food's flying around." The photo was passed around the room, it showed the bride, groom and most of the guests at the reception, each of them splattered with some form of food, and it was all over the walls of the large, fancy hall. Nika, Jasmine, Alex, Riley and Lance were all clustered together in the picture, each armed and dangerous, with pieces of wedding cake.

"So have you four always been friends?" Tracey gestured to the people in the photo,

"Yes, well actually, there was six of us," Nika replied, pulling out yet another photo, this time it showed six children, Nika, Alex, Jasmine, Riley and two other boys the others didn't recognise,

"Who are those two?"

"That's Drew, he had to move away to Hoenn, and that's my brother, Cameron."

"You have a brother?"

Nika nodded weakly, "Yes, but he…he…"

Smiling sadly, Jasmine finished off, Nika never liked to talk about this, "He died in a car crash, he was only eight."

" Oh, I'm so sorry."

"Don't worry, Tracey, it happened so long ago, we've got over it now…" Diana gave her daughter a worried glance. The room fell into an uncomfortable silence. Gary broke it first,

"Well Jasmine, you've finally been beaten, I bet it's like the end of an era, right?"

"I suppose, but given Ash will still be travelling, I guess I can win back my title next year."

"Ha, that's what you think."

"What the hell are you on about Nika?"

"I've decided to stay in Kanto, continue with my research," she exchanged a small glance with Professor Rowan, who nodded slightly. "And I'll enter the League."

"But you can't navigate yourself around Kanto; you can't even read a map."

"I can, just not very well. And Ritchie and Gary have agreed to go with me anyway." Ash coughed, choked on his drink and spluttered it across the room,

"You're going with _Gary_?" Misty rolled her eyes again.

"Why Ash, is there something wrong with that?"

" Yes, no, I don't know, bu.., but he's _Gary_!" Ash spluttered out exasperatedly, Gary gave Ash a sarcastic wave,

"Err, hello, Ashy-boy, I'm right here."

Ash scowled at his rival. "I know that," he spat out. Before the situation turned nasty, Dawn tactfully changed the subject,

"Jasmine, what's the Champion's ball like?" This snapped Ash out of his glaring contest with Gary,

"There's a ball? Jasmine nodded, Ash gulped, "With dancing?" Jasmine nodded again, then seemed to understand Ash's problem,

"Don't worry Ash, we'll teach before Saturday night." Then she noticed the horrified expressions on several people's faces, "Don't worry, we'll get dresses and tuxedos too."

Ash paled, forcing down a lump in his throat, he looked from one smug female to the other, "Does that mean we'll have to go _shopping_?"

**~**

By Saturday evening, Ash had decided that he never wanted to prepare for another ball ever again. Since he realised there was a ball on Thursday, Ash, and the other males, had spent two days searching through tuxedo shops, being dragged around by the girls through too many eveningwear collections to count, struggle with dozens of shopping bags round the Indigo Plateau Mall and endure hours of agonizing dance practice, none of which had gone too well. Now, they were slumped on the sofas and armchairs in the lounge, fully dressed in their tuxedos, awaiting the females who were just 'adding the finishing touches'. Ash groaned as he looked at the clock, rubbing a sore patch on his arm,

"My arm really hurts," he whined. His companions rolled their eyes,

"Well Ashy-boy, it's your own fault if you invite a girl to the ball with a, 'hey Mist, since you're the only one left, do you wanna go to the ball with me?' I'm surprised she's even going with you, especially since you yelled it to her in public, you weren't even discreet."

"Shut up Gary, at least I have a date."

"We're ready," cooed a voice from the hall. Waiting for them on the stairs, were the four girls, their outfits rendering the seven men at the bottom of the stairs speechless. Each of them had gone for a different coloured dress, Misty's was a simple sky blue one, with thin straps and a small trail that flowed behind her, Dawn's was pale pink and strapless, with a sweet heart neckline, full skirt and a pink sash at the waist, tied in a bow at the back. Jasmine's was a rich forest green, which was also strapless with a sweetheart neckline, but it swept straight down to the floor, her sister's dress was a rich claret red, it was sleeveless, with a high neckline, there was a sash at the waist, but the most impressive part was the train, which went for at least a metre behind her, the red fabric billowing elegantly behind her as she walked. Each of the four males who had one of the girls as a date, offered her his arm and they group headed for the front door. Then the silence was broken by Ash and one of his typically stupid statements,

"It took you two hours to get ready into that?" This earned him a slap across the back of his head from Misty, who the seized hold of his arm again and dragged him out the door. Out on the street, the group walked swiftly down the hill, as the hall where the ball was being held was at the end of the road. The four couples strode ahead, while the four males lacking dates, Ritchie, Brock and Gary, sulked behind.

A/N: Before you say anything about nothing happening, it says so in the A/N at the top. Not Much else to say, except, I published a Ash and Misty one-shot earlier this week, I just got the idea and thought, I'd give it a try, it's called What Could Have Been, and I'd quite like for you readers to read that too. One last thing, before review responses, I would like to start recommending a story a week and this weeks is Misty the Matchmaker by Angelic Fairy, it's very well written and with lots of unexpected twists and turns too, the epilogue has just been posted, but I believe a sequel is on the way, I was so sad that it ended. Don't want to say too much, so please just go read it, you'll see what I mean about how good it is. Now, review responses (I know, I haven't done these before, but I think it's high time I gave my wonderful reviewers some proper recognition).

PerlaNemesis – Glad you think this is a good story, yes I too, feel a bit sorry for Dawn, what, with Ash, Misty, Brock and Nika arguing a lot. And the Gyrados version of Misty, quite a lot of people liked that scene, and the fact there's a Gyrados version of Brock, there should be one of Misty too. Gary Ketchum, people seem to have taken an interest in him too, this is just my theory of what happened to him, I still don't know whether he'll be found or not though.

PokeshippersShadow1 – Glad you like my pairing of Brock and Nika, it wasn't intentional though, Nika was intended for a certain some else, by the name of Saturn…

Dbzgtfan2004 – Glad you like this story.

Texas Longhorn – Well you're hooked on this story, are you? Your comment about my first chapter being better than yours, is wrong, sweet, but wrong. Anyway, I hope you keep reading. And the scene were everyone got mad at Dawn, well she was asking for it, all of them are in denial, of course they're gonna get mad at her, poor girl.

Fire Drastar – Since you asked, Nika will usually have a party using any combination of these nine pokémon, Torterra, Dragonite, Gyrados, Milotic, Gengar, Lucario, Luxray, Rapidash or Alakazam. Lance was at Team Rocket's base because he was a G-man (as mentioned in the anime). I'm not planning on evolving anymore of Ash's pokémon just yet, but we'll have to see. With regards to Brock, I only wind him up because it's fun. Glad you like, Gyrados Misty, I do too. I think Swellow should have won too, but hey, I couldn't let Ash wipe the floor with Jasmine, I like her too much. As you can see, I updated on Monday too!

KageNoNeko – Yes, I bet you can't wait to see how everything will play out, but you'll have to wait. I thought I should come up with an idea for Ash's dad, even though it is featured in quite a lot of fics.

Shadow Greymon – Ahh, Jelly Bean Roulette, the idea only came to me because I was eating a tube of jelly beans at the time, so it hasn't been tried and tested yet.

AzureKite4 – Glad you liked the part with the two Gyrados, Ash having Gyrados Misty may have a hint to their relationship, but I really only came up with it after seeing Pokémon episode 'The Fortune Hunters' in which Misty is compared to a Gyrados, and James a Moltres (one of the greatest scene's ever, 'James the Mighty Moltres'). Ahh yes, the rejection, just trying toi imagine that scene makes me laugh.


	14. Yes I'm Having a Ball!

A/N: I'll make this note, short and sweet, this is Chapter 16, it is mainly about the Champion Ball. WARNING: This chapter may feature alcohol (though not drunkenness) hostile behaviour and a person I wish I could shoot (you'll see what I mean).

Pointless Disclaimer: I am Satoshi Tajiri, I own Pokémon. That's right, I had a sex change, aged 30 years in one night, got a career as a game designer and changed my nationality.

Chapter 16 – Yes, I'm having a Ball

Ritchie sat at one of the large round tables with a glass of wine and a feeling of utter depression. His problem? He had no date. He had two other friends who had no dates, but Brock was currently terrifying Nurse Joy with his confessions of love, (which had got even more eccentric, since alcohol had been added to the equation) and Gary was off flirting with a group of young women. His other companions all had dates and were currently waltzing round the dance floor. Finding watching this very boring, Ritchie turned his attention to Ash and Misty, who were far more interesting to watch. Misty was standing beside Ash, scowling as he crammed his plate full of food, this was probably because Ash found eating much more exciting than dancing, and Ritchie didn't blame him. They wandered over to his table and sat down opposite him. Swivelling round in his chair to face them, he flinched as Misty hit Ash over the head with her purse again for talking with his mouth full. Ignoring this, however, Ash continued to chat animatedly about how good the food was, spraying crumbs all over the table and paying no attention to Misty's murderous glares. Before she could cause him any pain, Mr Goodshow, had took to the stage, informing the guests to take their seats as the quiz was about to begin. Upon hearing this announcement, the dancers began to head towards their designated table. Nika, Alex, Jasmine, Lance, Dawn, Riley, Brock and Gary joined Ash, Misty and Ritchie at the table.

"Now, Ladies and Gentlemen," Mr Goodshow began. "Our quiz is about to begin, so would each team come up with a name and select a leader." Immediately, the people around each of the six tables leant into the centre of the table and began conferring. Ash, of course, wanted to be leader.

"Ash you're always the leader, why don't you let someone else do it for a change."

"Oh Misty just let Ash do it, we really don't need an argument." Misty pouted and turned away from Brock and his voice of reason.

"How 'bout Team Dynamite?"

"Lance, what the hell is wrong with you? What on earth possessed you to even suggest such an idea?"

"Jasmine, leave Lance alone, and come up with an idea yourself."

"Shut up Nika, why don't you come up with an idea?"

"Yeah, well I told you to think of one first!"

"Yeah, but I'm older and therefore overrule you!"

"No you don't, and I'm taller than you, midget!"

"I'm not a midget!"

"So five foot three classes you as a giant now does it?"

"It's five foot three and a quarter!"

"Whatever, midget."

"I'm not a midget."

"Yes you are!"

"No I'm not!"

"You are!"

"I'm not!"

"You are!"

"I'm not!"

"Yes you are, midget, midget, midget midget!"

"Not, not, not, not!"

"Ladies, as much as we'd love to hear the rest of your intelligent debate would you please shut up." The two sisters pouted and turned their backs on each other and Lance because he'd had the atrocity to interrupt their argument. "Right, now can we think of a team name without any more arguing as I think most of the other teams are already done."

"What about the Pikachu Crew?"

"No, Ash, just no."

**~**

"Next is the Music round, our final round, where teams have to guess what song is being played from the extract, our leaders, The Seniors shall go first," Mr Goodshow announced, gesturing towards the table where the professors and parents sat. "Then we shall go clockwise, so the Ace Team shall go next." Nika gestured and the others leaned into the centre of the table, ready to listen to what she had to say, while The Seniors began to shout out their answers.

"We're third right now guys, but the music round is my forte, so just leave it to me and these lot," she gestured to her oldest friends. "And we should be fine, unless we're unsure and you know the answer of course." The group nodded in agreement. The Seniors had answered four of their five questions correctly and now it was the Ace Team's turn.

"Right Ace Team, fingers at the ready, here is you first extract." The music began, a quiet introduction, followed by the banging on a drum. There was a loud, shrill ring as Nika slammed her hand down on the bell, so hard she almost broke it.

"Yes Nika?"

"Fade away (and Radiate) by Blondie!"

"Correct, now extract two…" The music began again, this time part way through a song,

"Somebody once asked could I spare some change for gas, I need to get myself away from this place, I said 'yep, what a concept, I could-" The ringing once again interrupted the song, but this time it was Ritchie who went for the bell.

"All Star by Smash Mouth."

"Correct, extract three…" Riley groaned as soon as he heard the song playing, and Jasmine began to sing along,

"Sometimes I feel I've got to," she rang the bell twice. "Run away, I've got to" another two rings. "Get away!" She turned to Mr Goodshow, "Tainted Love by Soft Cell."

"Correct, now extract four," The music began once more, this time, there was three seconds of introduction, before Nika slammed her hand down on the bell once more,

"California Dreamin' by the Mamas and Papas."

"Correct,"

"California dreamin' on such a winter's day," sang the CD player, as if to confirm Nika's answer.

"Now extract five, if you get this correct, it will place you in the lead."

"Come on team, we're gonna win!"Ash exclaimed to his triumphant looking table. The final piece of music began, one Mr Goodshow had picked hoping it wouldn't be recognised. The introduction ended and the singer began,

"And the women tug their hair like they're trying to prove it won't fall -" This time, it was Riley who rang the bell, just a fraction of a second ahead of Nika Jasmine, and his brother.

"Rotterdam (Or Anywhere) by the Beautiful South."

"Correct, this places you in the lead, congratulations, n-" Mr Goodshow was cut off by the Ace Team's excited cheering, which also stopped abruptly when the doors flung open and a young woman walked in. She had long pink hair, an extravagant, yet slightly revealing black ball gown, a false, sickly sweet smile plastered to her face and her condescending air of facetious self-importance. Jasmine stood up, eyeing the woman with a steely glare,

"Cassie," she growled, her voice laced with contempt.

"Jasmine, nice to see you," she answered coldly, returning Jasmine's glare. Lance groaned, and plonked his face down into his hands, mumbling,

"Shoot me," Cassie turned her attention to the table, catching sight of what she wanted to see,

"Well hello Alex," she cooed, in a honeyed voice. Nika shot up in her chair,

"Back off Cassie! Leave him alone!"

"Why he's not yours is he?" She retorted with a cocky air. Nika growled, but was prevented from strangling Cassie, by the fact Alex had grabbed hold of her wrist and pulled her back.

"Cool it, she's not worth it," he hissed at his friend. By now, the hall was silent, the atmosphere was so thick, you could cut it with a knife, and the tension was almost unbearable as the three women glared at each other. Seemingly out of the blue, Cassie sauntered over, pulled a chair over and wedged herself in between Nika and Alex, just because she knew it would infuriate Nika. Ritchie thought now was maybe time for introductions,

"Anyone who doesn't know her, this is Cassie, my cousin, and Lance's younger sister." She smiled another false smile at them. "And Cassie these are, Gary, Dawn, you know Riley, Brock, Misty and Ash."Ritchie informed his causing, gesturing at each of his friends.

"Oh I know who Ash is," she drawled, batting her eyelashes flirtatiously, causing Misty to growl and ball her hand up into a fist, but this action was ignored by Cassie, but she still gave up on Ash, who didn't pay any attention to her obvious flirting, instead she turned her attention to some of the others. "You know," Cassie mused, as she stole Nika's food and began to eat it. "I'm quite surprised at you Jasmine, you've know my brother, what, seven years, and you still haven't shacked up with him. Why is that?" Jasmine glared at her, clenching a fork in her hand like a makeshift weapon. "I mean, come on, you had a crush on him when you were fifteen and it's pretty obvious it hasn't gone away yet." Lance and Ritchie jumped up as Jasmine lunged for Cassie, fork at the ready, restraining her by each holding onto an arm. "You know you should really control your temper Jasmine, I don't want my nephews and nieces having you anger problems." This time, Ritchie and Lance weren't so successful at restraining Jasmine, but they managed to prise the fork out of her hand, before she caused any serious damage. Alex, however, managed to grab hold of Jasmine,

"Jasmine calm down," he scolded, and then he turned around. "And you," he raised his voice as he pointed a berating finger in Cassie's direction. "If you can't say anything nice, then leave, we're in no mood for your antics tonight."

"What? I've only been here ten minutes, but I know I'm not welcome here, goodbye losers!" And with that, she picked up her purse and sauntered out of the hall. Lance addressed the slightly puzzled table,

"And that, Ladies and Gentlemen, is why I don't see my sister very often."

**~**

A/N: You see what I mean, Cassie is infuriating, and will become even more so as the story goes on. School has started again, but I will try and publish chapters on time, but any lateness, I apologise for in advance. Anyway, not much else to say, except, it's review response time!

AzureKite4 – Glad you like the scene were Ash discovered there was ball. I agree about Ash's request, I liked writing that bit, I thought having him shout it out casually, was very Ash. And his line is just the kind of thing I know my dad thinks when my mum gets ready, but Ash is probably the only one who'd dare say it out loud.

PerlaNemesis – Yes Ash won, but how could I make him lose? When Nika announced a she would be travelling with Gary, I thought, 'now would Ash act?' Then I had my scene.

ShadowGreymon – Yes, I really wanted Ash to come out with a comment along the lines of the 'wow Mist, you look like a girl' comment from Beauty and the Beach, one just ever so slightly insulting, yet such a stupid thing to say. Couldn't let them get away with a date in perfect harmony.

KageNoNeko – Hopefully the ball was interesting enough for you. I sure think it was.

On one last note, the chapter title is a line from a song can you name the song the chapter title comes from? As the Loony Toons say, that's all for now! Princess Tiger


	15. Where the Skies are so Blue

A/N: I'm back! On time as promised, it feels great to be on time for something. Anyway, thank you for all the lovely reviews, you guys (and girls) are wonderful. Please review this chapter; even if you haven't reviewed before, reviews are greatly appreciated. No more to say, except I don't own Pokémon (but then you already know that so why do I say it). And finally, here's Chapter 17, title comes from the song Sweet Home Alabama by Lynyrd Skynyrd (spelt correctly, hopefully). Oh, and I've finally got onto the current main plot for this story, so we can get this show on the road!

Chapter 17 – Where the Skies are so Blue

Misty sighed; this was going to be a long summer. She was stuck with gym duties while Lily and Violet went out gallivanting in the sun and goodness only knows where Daisy had disappeared off to. She had pleaded with her sisters to let her stay with Ash so she could join in with the celebrations in Pallet, but alas apparently there were far too many challengers and she had been told to get back sharpish. She didn't mind any of the tasks involved in running the gym, except for one, cleaning the humungous pool used for battling. And guess what today's chore was? With her huge mop in hand Misty pressed the button that allowed the water to drain from the pool while she stared aimlessly out of the window into the beautiful clear blue sky, then she glared at her mop, what a way to spend a Monday in June. Hearing footsteps behind her, Misty whirled around to be greeted with a hug and an annoyingly cheerful greeting from her sister,

"Misty! I have some totally awesome news!" Misty inwardly rolled her eyes, wondering if Daisy had perfected her tan and that's why she was in a good mood.

"What?" She replied with some fake enthusiasm so she didn't spoil Daisy's jovial mood.

"Well, I've been taking proper classes, and I can finally take over!"

"Take over what?"

"The gym, silly!"

"Why would I want to give up my place as Gym Leader?"

"So you can back travelling with your boyfriend, duh!" Daisy chided.

"Ash is not my boyfriend!"

"Sure, of course he isn't sis. Well what d'ya say?"

"I'll think about it,"

"How about we battle and if I win you can go and if I lose you stay?"

Misty sighed, folding her arms, "Fine."

"Really? Let's get started then!"

"Sure, but first we need to clean the pool!" Misty smirked as her Daisy's face fell, and she reluctantly snatched the spare mob so she could aid her younger sibling.

**~**

Ash, Brock, Dawn, Nika, Ritchie, Gary, Riley and Tracey all sat in Oak's garden, admiring the beautiful summer weather, while the Professor remained inside. It was Monday morning, and they hadn't long arrived in Pallet but were already making plans to leave, Ash, Brock and Dawn planned to head to Johto, while Nika, Ritchie and Gary had tickets for the ferry to Cinnabar Island, Riley had to go back to the reserve soon, but had managed to wrangle a few extra days in Kanto from his parents. The group was currently, however, discussing the letter Ash and Nika had received from Professor Oak, detailing the updated steps to becoming a Pokémon Master, these steps could only be received after becoming a League Champion.

"So really all I need is 70 more pokémon?"

"All you need? Ash, you have to win the other three Leagues and catch 70 more pokémon, it's not going to be easy."

"I never said it was Brock." Nika, who was staring absent-mindedly into the cloudless sky, suddenly jumped,

"Oops, I forgot, I need to ring Jasmine, tell her we got here." Riley shook his head in despair, as Nika removed her PokéGear from her bag. Dialling the number in, Nika then held the PokéGear up to her ear, while she awaited a response. "Hi Jasmine!" She sang cheerfully, then flinched at Jasmine's reply,

"GO AWAY! I DO NOT WANT TO TALK TO YOU! GO HIDE IN A HOLE AND SHOVE YOUR BLOODY POKéGEAR UP YOUR ARSE!" The rest of the group just blinked. The dialling tone resounded, after the rather unfriendly outburst. Ash stared at the object in Nika's hands,

"I don't think she's in a very good mood."

"You don't say," Nika berated sarcastically. Then a light bulb seemed to go on above her head, "I know, I'll ring Lance!" Speedily dialling her friend's PokéGear number, Nika held it up, eagerly awaiting a response, she was greeted with a gruff grunt. "Oh hello Lance, you don't sound so good what's up?"

"Cassie visited," he stated in a deadpan voice.

"Oh right, that would explain Jasmine. Are you alright?"

"I'll survive; I take it you arrived at Oak's lab?"

"Yeah, we head off to Cinnabar on tomorrow."

"So soon? But then I suppose me and Jasmine are headed for my home on Thursday."

"You are? Then say 'hi' to Clair for me."

"Will do, but I've gotta go now, before Jasmine gets angry and attacks some unfortunate obje-" His sentence was cut off when a loud 'bang' resounded from nearby Lance, as if to illustrate his point.

"I'll leave you to deal with Jasmine then, bye Lance!"

"Bye Nika!" Nika sighed and looked to the group, glad that one of the features of the PokéGear meant that she didn't need to repeat the conversation to the group. The garden fell into a tranquil silence, until a call from the kitchen signalled that Mrs. Ketchum had finished preparing lunch.

**~**

Bang! A cup was slammed down on the top. Creak! The drawer was wrenched open. Bang! A spoon was slammed on the top. Bang! The drawer was unceremoniously closed with a shove. Stomp, stomp, stomp! She walked over to the fridge and got out the milk. Bang! The fridge was slammed shut. Stomp, stomp, stomp! She arrived back where the kettle was. Bang! The milk was thrown onto the top. Bang! The cupboard door that was always opening of its accord was shut with a shove, making the door hinges creak. Bang!

"You know Jasmine," Lance mused, with the same tone his sister used, in a deliberate attempt to annoy his companion. "I'd never known until now, just how noisy making me a cup of tea could actually be."

"Oh shut up!" she yelled. "Do you want to make this yourself?"

"Not particularly, but you really should try and control that temper of yours."

"I do not have a temper!" she screamed at the top of her voice, rattling the glass in the cabinets.

"Jasmine, you have an awful temper, especially when you're in a bad mood."

"I'm not in a bad mood!"

"Jasmine, you have been slamming things all day and screaming at anyone who dares breathe the wrong way, you are in a bad mood."

"Oh shut up mister."

"See, I'm right, now what's bothering you?"

"Nothing," Jasmine muttered, turning away, determined to be as difficult as possible.

Lance raised his eyebrows, "I've known you for too long to not know when something's the matter, now tell me."

"Well, since you know me so well you can probably tell me what's the matter too, huh?" Jasmine added sarcastically, crossing her arms and scowling and the kettle.

"Yes, you're angry at Cassie from yesterday, you always act like this when she ticks you off."

"Yeah, but what ticked me off, Mister Smarty-pants?"

"The fact she constantly asks you why you haven't 'shacked up with me yet,'" Jasmine gave him a wry smile; he really could, on occasions, read her like a book. "What is it about it that winds you up so much? I mean, you know it's not true, why let it get to you?"

"I hate the way we're constantly referred to as a couple, I mean we're good friends, but nothing more, right?"

"Right, but the press seems to have it in their heads that we are secretly in love, wonder where they get that idea from?"

"Cassie," Jasmine affirmed, her voice tinged with venom as she set the cup of tea in front of Lance. Lance rolled his eyes,

"I know you hate my sister, but could you at least _try_ and get along with her?"

"No, she is infuriating."

"Please, we don't see her that often,"

"Not that often? She came yesterday, and that was the second time we'd seen her in a week."

"Fine, you win, Cassie has been round a bit much lately, but we're leaving for Blackthorn City on Thursday."

"We are?"

"Uh-huh, I haven't seen my family for a while, especially Clair."

"You see!" Jasmine exclaimed, taking Lance by surprise. "Clair's nice, why can't she be your sister and Cassie be your cousin instead?"

"Because it just doesn't work that way."

"Why not?"

"Because it just doesn't."

**~**

Alex sat in his spacious office, staring out of the huge window that overlooked the streets of Veilstone ten storeys below. He was awaiting a visit from his secretary, Serena, as she was supposed to have brought the file with the details of the new employee by now. As the manager of the entire Veilstone branch of Silph Co, Alex needed some help running the place, so had requested for someone to assist him in his job, this request had been fulfilled and the assistant was from the highly esteemed Goldenrod branch of the company. Alex watched the bustling street below, feeling sorry for the sweltering people outside, while he enjoyed the benefits of a highly advanced air conditioning system. There was a knock at the door, then a petite lady, with red hair, cut in a sleek bob, walked in,

"Hello Alex, working hard, are we?"

"Oh hello Serena, have you got that file?"

"Sure, here," she held out the file, he took it and began leafing through his contents, although he wasn't actually reading it, he was listening to Serena try and engage in small talk with him. "So Alex, how was the ball?"

He shrugged, "So, so."

"Anything exciting happen?"

"Cassie showed up."

"Oh," Serena, having been Alex's secretary, for a year and a half, had become friends with her rather distant boss, learning a little about his circle of friends outside of Veilstone, namely Nika, who seemed to be his favourite topic of conversation. "So how is Nika, did she come back to Sinnoh?"

"Nope, she actually stayed in Kanto, she's going to defeat Jasmine and then carry on with her 'research' into what she's really interested in."

"Oh yeah, history, about the split of the two 'worlds' right?"

"Yeah, she always found that so much more interesting than battling."

"Can I just ask though? Why does she want to beat Jasmine first?"

"To go out with a bang, whatever she does, Nika always tries to finish with a bang, when everyone in Rotterdam said they'd rather die old with grandchildren, Nika said she'd like 'to go out with a bang,' but the strangest thing is, and it worries me, I think she may just do that."

"What you mean die young?"

"Uh-huh,"

"Poor ol' you."

Alex quirked and eyebrow, "And what is that supposed to mean?"

Serena flushed and quickly backtracked, "Err, nothing."

**~**

Daisy sank to her knees, in despair. Seeing her crestfallen face, Misty smiled compassionately,

"Never mind Daisy, you were a lot better than last time though, so with a little more training you should be able to beat me."

"No I won't, I'm a total failure,"

"You're not a total failure, you're just not quite ready."

"I'll never be ready!" Daisy wailed from the floor.

"You will, because I will help you, and you will be ready within a month."

"You mean that?"

"Of course I do, but for now, we need to go cook tea, Violet and Lily should be back from the Lake at the Cape soon."

"Yeah, I suppose you're right, shall I order a takeaway then?"

"No, step one in Gym Leader training: learn how to cook your own meals, we're going to begin you're cooking lessons."

"Oh joy, hey, wait a second, I thought you couldn't cook?"

"That was when I was thirteen, now I can."

"Not very well," Daisy muttered

"Hey, I can still cook!"

**~**

"Nika, we are not, I repeat not, having your fajitas for tea," Gary ordered.

"Why not?"

"Why not? Because you put an enough jalapeños in it for us to turn into Charizards."

"You're exaggerating Gary, I've told you a million times not to exaggerate."

"Oh shut up,"

"Why should I?"

"Because you're starting to annoy me!"

"Yeah well you're starting to annoy me!"

"Oh well both of you shut up, Mrs. Ketchum can cook, we don't need to resort to cooking our own food until we leave tomorrow."

"Oh shut up Brock."

"No, Nika, I will not shut up, now aren't you supposed to go ring your mother?"

"Why should I, you're acting like her." Dawn groaned,

"Will you two shut it; I've got a headache here."

"Go take some paracetamol then." Delia sighed, she loved having all of Ash's friends here, but even now, as they had all entered or were nearing adulthood, they were as much of a handful as they were seven years ago, at least when they were younger it was easier to find space for them all, but nowadays they were just so, tall, and looking after seven was no easy task. In some ways she would be glad for the space she would be granted with after tomorrow's departure. Oh, the joys of parenting. Poking her head out of the kitchen door, she yelled into the lounge,

"Okay, I'm giving you kids until the count of three to shut up and behave yourself, one…" Everyone cut their arguments short and was promptly silent, "Two…" There was a flurry of movement as the group scurried to find a seat. "Three."

**~**

Sorry this chapter's jumping between characters a lot, but the story will be like this, though not as jumpy, simply because I don't just want to focus on Ash's journeys, I want to develop the other characters during the story too. Another note, Rotterdam is the school Nika, Jasmine, Alex, Riley and the two missing members from their little group (mentioned in the photo scene, Chapter 15) attended before their pokémon journeys. I have also rewrote Chapter 1, so if you check that out, it will be greatly appreciated, I am currently redoing Chapter 2 too to (hey three different 'to's in a row) improve the writing (which I think is a little sloppy at the moment). Anyway, great thanks to PerlaNemesis, who reviewed Chapter 16, I know you hate Cassie, but in contradiction to what I said earlier, I think she has grown on me, so I will make her a little nicer in her next appearance, whenever that may be. So PerlaNemesis, this chapter is dedicated to you. I shall have Chapter 18 out next Monday, all being well and good. So, this is Princess Tiger, signing off and shutting up now!

P.S Oops, I forgot, Please Review, even if it's a little sentence, please all reviews are greatly appreciated. Okay, now I'll really shut up.


	16. Poo and Bananas

A/N: Yes I'm back, with Chapter 18. Sorry it was so late, but this chapter is longer than usual, so hopefully that'll excuse me. I still don't Pokémon, and now I must tell you that I don't own the songs Maria by Blondie or Hollaback Girl by Gwen Stefani. I also do not own Casablanca, the film, or the city for that matter. Yeah, so anyway, please review and here is Chapter 18…

Chapter 18 –Poo and Bananas (Bee, ay, en, ay, en, ay, ess)

The light summer breeze carried the familiar scent of chocolate brownies that was drifting from the open window of the Kirks' kitchen. Stood in the decorative front garden, to take in the welcoming sight of home, Lance let his lungs fill with the fresh clean air of Blackthorn City. Seizing hold of his elbow, Jasmine dragged him to the front door, and then rapped the shiny brass knocker loudly against the wood. The door was opened to reveal a short, plump woman with deep red hair, a round friendly face, eyes that twinkled and a beaming smile that was so cheerful, you couldn't help but smile back. She spread her arms wide to greet the two windswept travellers,

"Lance and Jasmine, what a lovely surprise." She pulled them both into a hug, squashing both together in her motherly hug.

"Hello Marie, nice to see you too," Jasmine grunted, her voice muffled by the fact her face was squashed into Marie's shoulder. Reluctantly releasing them, Marie ushered them into the house.

"Now, you two must sit down, I've made brownies, and Clair will be here in a moment."

**~**

"Now Ash, remember to ring us using that PokéGear, when you can, I don't want to lose touch." Ash nodded, then looked down at the object in his hand and poked it. Dawn groaned, snatching the PokéGear out of his hand,

"Ash, give that to me, you're hopeless with anything other than your PokéDex."

"No I'm not."

"Ash darling, can you please not start an argument now." Ash scowled at his mother, muttering some sort of complaint to Pikachu.

The group had gathered in Pallet Town's small port, Ash, Brock and Dawn were awaiting their ferry to Johto, Nika, Gary and Ritchie needed to go to Cinnabar Island, while Riley was bound for home, Canalave, in other words. It was late morning, on a glorious day in June. The three ferries for each group, awaited, side by side, their huge pillars of smoke rising steadily from the chimneys into the azure sky.

"So," Brock began, consulting his diary. "We're meeting up in Goldenrod City on 2nd September, right?"

"Right," Nika affirmed with a nod. "Then we can all catch up and celebrate yours and Ritchie's birthdays."

"I'll see if I can get some time off too come see you too."

"That'll be great Riley, bu-" She was rudely interrupted by the foghorn of Riley's ferry signalling for the passengers to board.

"Well, that's my call, see ya guys in a couple o' months!"

"Yeah I guess…" Nika trailed off as she engulfed her friend in an enormous bear hug. A little taken-aback, Riley awkwardly patted her with his free arm, before she released him, so he could cross the gangplank. Waving madly from the shore, the group bade Riley their farewell, as he waved back from the deck,

"Bye guys!"

"Bye Riley!"

**~**

After thirty more minutes of waiting Ash, Brock and Dawn's ferry was ready. Nika, Gary and Ritchie's having departed not long after Riley's, meant that there was just Tracey, Delia and Professor Oak left on the pier. Waving down from the deck, Ash Brock and Dawn were excited in anticipation of their new adventures,

"Bye Mom, bye Professor, bye Tracey!"

"Bye Mrs. Ketchum!"

"Bye Ash, bye Brock, bye Dawn!"

"And Ash honey, don't forget to change those you-know-whats every day!" Delia cried affectionately, inducing sniggers from Brock, Dawn and several bystanders.

"Sure Mom," Ash replied, a slight blush of embarrassment evident on his face. Pikachu laughed at his trainer, and waved joyously back at the three on the pier,

"Pika, pika!"

**~**

Alex let out a brief sigh of contentment, having just finished his presentation for Silph Co.'s new PokéGear collaboration; he had nothing to do until he was introduced to his new co-manager, since they had to do the presentation together. Staring through the translucent window of his office door, he could see two figures approaching, one of which was most definitely Serena, he recognised her voice, and the other figure, a female, well her voice sounded strangely familiar too… His thoughts were interrupted by a loud knock at the door,

"Come in." Serena strode in, accompanied by the new co-manager, who seemed very interested in a message on her phone, Alex's eyes widened in horror as he realised just who the other woman was

"Alex," Serena began. "This is-"

"_Cassie_?" The woman's head shot up, and her eyes widened in recognition.

"Alex!" she cried beaming.

"You two know each other?" Serena looked from one to the other, Alex was stood haughtily, the vein in his temple throbbing, a sure sign of his hostile feelings towards Cassie. However, Cassie was beaming, this action alone made the dawn of realisation sweep over Serena, she knew which Cassie it was. "Wait, you're Lance's sister aren't you?" Cassie nodded, and smirked at the still silent Alex,

"Well, this should be fun, huh?"

"Huh," Alex huffed, then he turned his attention to his computer. "Well we don't need all the formalities now, so we'll begin on this presentation right away."

"Err, okay?" Cassie carefully sat down in the chair opposite him, a little cautious of his serious tone.

**~**

Daisy screamed and promptly dropped the mop, running for safety in the kitchen. Misty sighed, and trudged out into the hall to see what the fuss was about this time. She was greeted by the sight of a small, green, slimy…

"Caterpie!" she screamed, dashing for cover behind the kitchen door. It was a typical day of Daisy's new Gym Leader training, a scheme which had only began a day before, but Daisy, under Misty's guidance, had still managed to explode a cake in the oven, almost break the shower, and, thanks to Psyduck, spill the Pokémon Food all over the floor, which is what Daisy had been clearing up. It was only five minutes into Daisy's cookery class, when Misty came to the conclusion that this Gym Leader training wasn't going to be easy, and she was right .

Now, poor Tracey, who had visited earlier, after seeing Ash and the others off, and had been forced to assist, was trying to coax Caterpie, with no success.

"Misty," came a cry from the bathroom. "The toilet's not workin' and it's, like, firing poo at me!" Misty groaned,

"Daisy, get the plunger, we have a drain to unblock."

**~**

"So Jasmine, how are you coping with your loss?" Clair enquired, placing a spoonful of banana split in her mouth.

"I'm doing okay actually, I was thinking about maybe seeing about filling Agatha's position, I heard she's retiring soon." Jasmine shot an indignant look at Lance, who was sat opposite her. He frowned,

"Jasmine, I've already told you, you need to talk to Mr. Goodshow, not me."

"Oh don't be so stupid, I know you can't make me an Elite Four, you can barely cook beans on toast."

"I wasn't being stupid, and I can cook beans on toast."

"Yeah, just nothing else." Clair muttered.

"Hey I heard that, and I can cook plenty of things, otherwise I wouldn't be able to eat when Jasmine's not home."

"Lance honey, there's no point in arguing against the two of them, you can't win an argument against Jasmine alone, never mind Clair as well."

"Gee, thanks Mum," Lance chided sarcastically.

"Don't speak to your mother like that Lance."

"Why not, you act like her too."

"Hey! I do not act like I'm your mother!"

"Yeah, more like she's you wife!" Clair added.

"Shut up Clair, we do not act like a married couple!"

"You do!"

"Not!"

"Do!"

"Not!"

"Everybody quiet!" Marie yelled over the other three voices. "Now that's enough arguing at the table." The three younger adults backed down sheepishly, and began eating their banana splits again, avoiding Marie's stern glare. "Now isn't that better?" She added more calmly, like she was talking to young children, of course it was a rhetorical question, so no-one dared answer.

**~**

"Eww! I've just got poo in my hair!"

"Stop complaining and keep plunging, you can have a shower later."

"Put my arms are totally exhausted, are you sure it's not your turn yet?"

"Nope," Misty answered, checking the stopwatch she held in her hand. "You've still got one more minute of plunging until it's my turn."

"Ring, ring, ring, phone call, phone-" The phone was cut off as Violet answered downstairs.

"Hello? Alright, I'll get her now, MISTY!" she screeched. "Ash is on the phone!"

"I'm coming!" she yelled back, then smirked at Daisy. "Keep going at that, I won't be long."

"Whatever, just go talk to your boyfriend."

"Ash isn't my boyfriend!" Daisy shrugged, then waved Misty downstairs.

Picking up the receiver, Misty smiled back at her beaming friend,

"Hey Ash, hey Pikachu!"

"Pika, pika!" Pikachu chimed from his trainer's shoulder.

"Hey Mist! Woah, what's all the brown stuff in your hair?" Misty stared back blankly, nonplussed. Ash was overcome by hysterics, while Misty glared back, un-amused.

"You've got poo in your hair!"

"Yes Ash, I do, wanna know why?" Without waiting for a response, Misty carried on, ignoring the sniggers from Ash. "The toilet was blocked up, and we had no more drain unblocker, so me and Daisy are plunging away, with shit, yes shit, flying everywhere, and … " She trailed off, as Brock approached, having been towed from Nurse Joy by Croagunk.

"What's going on?"

"Misty's covered in poo!"

"Shut up Ash, it's not funny."

"Oh I beg to differ, but since we're in Johto, we can't do much about it, but have you heard of drain cleaner, it's this wonderful liquid that you pour and down a sink or toilet, and – wonder of wonders – it cleans the drain, amazing, huh?" Misty glared back,

"Quit the sarcasm Brock, I do know what drain cleaner is, but we ran out, and since all you're going to do is laugh at me, bye!" She hung up on the pair, before storming upstairs to take over the plunging, uttering foul curses under her breath.

**~**

"We're here!"

"Already? Man that was an awfully short boat ride for the price we paid."

"Shut up Gary, I seem to recall, I paid for the tickets."

"Oh will you two shut up, we need to go check into Pokémon Centre."

"Fine," Nika grumbled, glaring daggers at Gary. She trudged behind on their way to the Pokémon Centre, but once inside, she sashayed to the front of the queue, completely ignoring Gary, Ritchie and the other people who were waiting.

"Does she ever wait in queues?" Gary muttered. Ritchie shook his head, smirking,

"The day she waits in a queue, is the day hell freezes over."

After booking their rooms, Nika joined Ritchie and Gary on a sofa in the lounge area, as a song began to play over the radio. Ritchie and Gary exchanged a horrified glance, as Nika began to sing along,

"She moves like she don't care,

Smooth as silk, cool as air,

Ooooh, it makes you wanna di-ie."

"Kill me now," Ritchie muttered as he banged his head against the table in despair.

"Wanna make her all you own?" Nika continued, drawing some dubious glares from the other trainers, until one boy joined in with his own words,

"Oh Marinnaaaa, you've gotta see her!" he sang, drowning out Nika's voice, singing the original lyrics, shrugging, she carried on, ignoring the disgruntled people around her, who were annoyed by the fact that there were now two tuneless voices singing,

"A mil-lion and one, candle-li-ights!" Continuing to sing, Nika and the boy quickly emptied out the Pokémon Centre's lounge area, apart from, Ritchie, Gary, the boy's three companions and a few trainers that were either, brave, deaf, stupid, or a combination of all three. After the duo had finished their rendition of 'Maria', the boy joined Nika at their sofa, introducing his slightly embarrassed friends, introduced as Marina, Jimmy and Casey. The boy, named Vincent, told her they didn't actually travel together, but their paths all seemed to have cross at Cinnabar. Marina, turned out to be the girl Vincent had sung about, a pretty girl, with bright blue hair pulled into pigtails, her dream was to become a Pokémon Idol. Casey, a manic Electabuzz Baseball fan, turned out to be friends with Ash, Misty and Brock, thus proving just how small the world could turn out to be. Jimmy was a trainer, with a goal to become a Pokémon Master, and had won the Silver Conference the previous year, making him the Johto Champion until the League finished in a few weeks time.

"So what are you doing in Kanto?" Nika asked Jimmy. He pulled from his bag, a slim silver case, opening it to show her four gleaming badges,

"I'm competing in the Indigo League, and I'm gonna win!" Nika snorted,

"That's what you think."

"Why d'ya say that?"

"'Coz, I'm gonna win it!"

"No, I am!"

"I am!"

"I am!"

"I am!" Ritchie and Gary groaned simultaneously, it looked like Nika had already found herself another rival, and a person to argue with.

**~**

"So let me get this straight, the only reason you 'flirted' with me was to make Nika jealous? Why?"

"Well you see, your obviously like her-" Cassie paused, glaring as Alex let out a snort. "And I was just trying to see if she likes you."

"Whatever, but that still doesn't explain the way you annoy Jasmine."

"Hmm, that, well she is funny when she's mad, and my brother's funny when he's trying to deal with a mad Jasmine." She smirked, as an image of a typical angry Jasmine crossed her mind.

"Fine, I suppose it can be quite funny when Jasmine is mad, but maybe next time try not to go too far so she tries to stab you with a fork."

"I'll try, but I have a bone to pick with you too."

"You do?"

"Yes, why, if Nika is 'just a friend' are we trudging around jewellery shops to get her present?"

"Oh, that."

"Yes Alex," Serena chimed. "You don't even put this much effort into your Mum's presents."

"I do!" he defended. "It's just Mum's slightly easier to buy for."

"Sure," both females sighed in unison. The three were out shopping, mostly to get Nika's birthday present, but also as an attempt for Serena to try and persuade Alex and Cassie to get along, after their going over the presentation hadn't gone so smoothly. So far, the two seemed to be getting along fine, after they had sorted out the major problems they had with each other.

The group wandered into the fifth jewellers of the afternoon, a small stand-alone shop, with a curious collection of new and antique jewellery. Peeking into a cabinet, Alex seemed to find something he like instantly, a beautiful delicate charm bracelet, with a variety of charms, that the jeweller would put on the bracelet by hand. Ignoring the price-tag and Cassie and Serena profusely reminding him that he was buying white gold, Alex carefully selected six charms, a ghost, a planet, a flame, a palm tree, a burger and a Flygon, each just over half a centimetre long. Promising to explain the seemingly random selection of charms, Alex quickly paid the man, and promised to return before the shop closed to pick it up.

"Alex I can't believe you bought that bracelet!" Cassie chided him, as soon as they had sat down in a café.

"Yeah, and what were all those charms about?" Serena added.

"Simple, I chose a one to symbolise one person from our group of six."

"So who's who?"

"The ghost is Nika, since she was nicknamed Spook in school, after the stock cupboard incident, the planet is me, Saturn, the flame is Jasmine, not too hard to guess why, the palm tree, is our old friend Drew, who we haven't seen for ten years, since he was nicknamed Palm Tree, the Flygon is for Cameron, Nika's younger brother, since it was his dream to own one, and the burger is for Riley, whose disastrous, yet drunken, encounter with a buffet table at the reception for Nika's cousin, Adam's wedding means that any piece of food associated with Riley will immediately bring us back to that."

"Poor Riley, I remember you telling me about that."

"Yeah, Lance said it started a food fight."

"I did, look here is a photo to prove it." From his pocket he pulled out a piece of paper, which he unfolded to show a photograph of most of the guests to the reception, all looking slightly dishevelled and covered in food, much like the walls of the fancily decorated hall. Serena smiled as the two continued talking, they seemed to be getting along just fine, and to quote, 'it seemed like it was the beginning of a beautiful friendship'.

**~**

"… and then it turns out that she'd run out of drain cleaner!" Ash exclaimed, as he ended his retelling of Misty's escapades with her toilet to Dawn. Dawn chortled slightly, but restrained herself a fraction, out of pity for Misty. Diverting her attention to Brock, who had just been dragged over to them by Croagunk for the fourth time since they had arrived at the Olivine City Pokémon Centre just over two hours ago. Leaping up of the floor and brushing himself off like nothing was wrong, Brock stood over Ash and Dawn smiling guiltily.

"What is it Brock?" Dawn sighed.

"Well, you know I said to Joy I'd do anything for her?"

"Yes?"

"She asked me to paint her shed, so guess what we're going to be doing tomorrow!"

"Brock you didn't?"

"I did!" He smiled guiltily again. Ash, however, seemed pleased about this news.

"Yes, we can get our pokémon to help!" He leapt from his seat. "I know, I'll go get Bulbasaur from Professor Oak, his Vine Whip will help us loads!" Dawn rolled her eyes as Ash bounded away, then glared at the sheepish Brock,

"You're lucky one of us is happy you've conned us into painting a shed tomorrow."

A/N: How was that? Please reviews. Chapter 19 should be up next Monday as usual. Thanks to PerlaNemesis for your review, I'm glad you like my writing style. I enjoyed writing the Misty and Daisy parts too, and the paracetamol thing, well I am yet to see that on fanfiction. As you can see Cassie has made her comeback, and she is nicer this time.

This week's story recommendation is… 'Engagement Troubles' by Stars of Gold, this is a really funny Contestshipping story with a twist, well written, and from May's point of view, Drew asks May to pretend to be his fiancée otherwise he'll have to marry his neighbour, I won't give too much away, but please do read.

See you next week, Princess Tiger


	17. Bonne Anniversaire Nika!

**A/N:** I'm back with Chapter 19. I really want to thank my new beta-reader Raving Adelaide for doing a brilliant job at correcting any of my errors in this installment of 'Friendship, Love and Rivalry'. I also want to thank PerlaNemesis for her review last chapter, and I hope the rest of you enjoyed the chapter too. Three other quick notes before we begin:

1. I have not, do not and will not own Pokémon, the French language, iPod speakers or the 'Happy Birthday' song

2. 'Bonne Anniversaire' is French for happy birthday.

3. 'Cellotape' is a sticky clear tape, I believe Americans call Scotch Tape (though what the Scots have to with it, I have to find out)

Chapter 19 – Bonne Anniversaire Nika!

Misty winced, tugging the duvet back over her head. The sun was too much right now; her eyes were averse to the light streaming through her curtains. But she ventured a peek at the clock and groaned – it was so ridiculously early.

The red-haired girl pulled the covers closer to her body and snuggled them. She was determined to drift back into a peaceful slumber for an hour or so. Closing her eyes and pulling her pillow closer, her hopes were soon dashed. A loud cheer echoed throughout the Cerulean Gym.

"Wahoo! It's my birthday!"

Muttering curses under her breath, Misty climbed out of bed and tried to ignore how much her eyes hated her at that moment. They'd adjust to the blinding day, eventually.

Once again, Nika's voice rang through the hallways. "Come on, you lazy bones! Why aren't you up? Today's my birthday!"

Misty snatched her dressing gown from its place on the hook and begrudgingly stumbled onto the landing. 'How do Ritchie and Gary coped with this everyday?' she wondered to herself. Other people didn't; in fact, several other grumbling people trudged out into the hall, only to be met – rather rudely – by Nika's fierce bear hugs.

The rude awakening was quickly forgotten as the group gathered in the lounge to give the birthday girl her presents. Misty, Daisy, Lily, Violet, Ritchie, and Gary sat around Nika, either in one of the armchairs or on the floor.

"Now...," Misty began, holding out a small, carefully-wrapped, pink box. "This is only a little something, but I hope you like it all the same."

Nika beamed as she took hold of the present in her hands. Slowly she began to undo the pale pink ribbon, carefully peeling off the cellotape on the sides. Giving up on the delicate paper, Nika tore the rest of it off, and revealed a small box. Inside was a beautiful crystal figurine in the shape of a Rapidash. With the day shining in, its glass mane glistened with the entire colour spectrum, making the figurine look as though it were on rainbow fire.

"It's beautiful!" Nika's eyes sparkled as she cautiously returned the figure to the box. She then pounced on Misty. "Thanks so much!" she cried.

A pointed cough came from one of the three oldest sisters.

"And thank you to you three as well," Nika said.

Gary cleared his throat then, and pushed a large present into Nika's face. "What they bought you can't beat what Ritchie and I bought," he insisted.

Nika took the gift and immediately noticed Gary's lack of taste in wrapping paper; a gaudy pink flower design stared back at her, topped off with peace symbols and smiley faces. Ritchie tried to explain.

"Gary went to get the paper – I had no choice in the matter," he said. Ritchie held out his present then, wrapped in the same odd print. It looked suspiciously like a jar. "Here. This is just a joke," he warned her.

Nika took the gift and ripped the wrapping off to reveal a jar of jalapeños. She laughed heartily at her two friends' joke.

"Very funny, guys," Nika said, giggling. "I was running out, so thanks, but this means you've prolonged your own pain."

Gary and Ritchie's faces fell simultaneously, and Nika smirked as they instinctively reached for their glasses of water. The comfortable silence was broken by the sound of a video-phone ringing – it was coming from the entrance hall. All four sisters leaped up and sprinted for the phone, as if it were a race. But Misty reached the door first. She slammed it shut as the other three slumped to the floor, defeated.

"Nika! It's for you!" Misty yelled.

Nika dashed out of the lounge and skidded across the tiled floor of the entrance way to greet the caller – Ritchie and Gary quickly followed. Taking the receiver, Nika smiled at the person on-screen.

"Hi, Ash, Brock, and Dawn!"

"Hi Nika!" they chorused, as Pikachu waved enthusiastically from Ash's shoulder.

Clearing his throat, Ash spoke first: "Nika, since we are unable to give you a present, here is a little piece us three came up with to celebrate your nuptials."

"My nuptials? Ash, I'm not getting married."

"Oh, well – anyway: Guys... one, two, three…"

"Happy Birthday to you,

You once lived in a zoo,

You look like a Mankey,

And, you smell like one too!"

"Pika, pika!" finished Pikachu.

The four gathered around Nika's screen seemed to clap a little too loudly for Ash, Brock, and Dawn's mediocre performance for their liking; it had taken them far too long to perfect that!

After chatting for a while longer, both groups soon noticed the time and realised that they needed to eat lunch.

**~**

It is universally acknowledged that Daisy Waterflower is unable to cook a satisfactory meal without: burning something; messing up the floor; adding a wrong ingredient; or – what was fortunately a slightly less common trait – blowing something up. Unfortunately, however, today was one of those days.

Whilst toasting sandwiches, cheese had seeped into the sandwich press, causing it to snap open. A high-pitched hissing sound came out of the machine, then it emitted smoke, and a loud 'pop!' signalled its short-circuiting. A couple of rooms, including the kitchen, went dark.

After throwing some rather explicit curses toward the frazzled 'toastie' maker, Daisy sought out the fuse box to get the electricity going again. She flicked the wrong switch, however, and turned another block of electricity off, plunging the windowless rooms of the gym into darkness. Daisy groaned in frustration, kicked the fuse box, and stormed back into the kitchen. She stopped suddenly when she noticed Tracey standing outside, pressing the doorbell. Unbeknownst to him, a fuse had been fried – no one could hear him!

Luckily for him (and her), Daisy had passed by the door. She opened it for him, but he barely made it through before Daisy dragged him to the fuse box, muttering nonsense about the 'damn electrics.'

Tracey set to work on the now very broken fuse box, and Daisy assisted him by passing the necessary tools. Daisy purposely left out that she had kicked it in frustration.

After a little while, there was hammering at the front door. Daisy approached it, seeing that it was Jasmine and Lance with the birthday cake from the Cerulean Bakery. The pair of them left the cake in the kitchen and then proceeded to the lounge where most of the group was gathered (except, of course, for Daisy and Tracey). Jasmine and Lance briefly explained about the broken fuse box and Nika fiinally proceeded to unwrap the rest of her gifts. Choosing to put an end to the gaudy paper, Nika selected Ritchie's and Gary's presents from the pile on the table first. She tore off the paper and smiled at the box in her hands – she knew why they'd bought her speakers. It was really unnecessary for Gary to explain.

"We bought them so that when you listen to music, we can hear the original song – not your tuneless version," he said.

Smirking evilly, Nika quirked an eyebrow at her friend. "Now what makes you think I'll use them?" she asked.

Before Gary could answer, the doorbell rang yet again, and Daisy cheered that the electricity was working again. Nika eagerly dashed to the door with Misty in pursuit. They were surprised at who was standing opposite them on the threshold.

"Riley?"

"The one and only." He pulled a gift bag out from behind his back and handed it to Nika. "Here you go,:one in there from each of us. Happy nineteenth birthday!" he said.

"Thanks, Riley. Oh, I wonder what I got…" Nika mused as she peered at the selection of presents in the bag.

**~**

Taking the last present into her hands, Nika cheerfully went through the usual process: remove the bow, read the tag, and tear off paper. She opened the small jewellery box which now lay unwrapped in her hands and Nika gasped. It was a beautiful bracelet with a delicate chain and tiny, yet intricate, charms.

"It's beautiful," she said, holding out her wrist for Jasmine to fasten the bracelet. It was quickly clipped into place and she brought her forearm level with her face. Nika closely studied the charms on the bracelet.

"One for each of us."

Her smile faded slightly, however, when a small card entitled: 'How to clean your white gold' fell out of the jewellery box. "

Stupid idiot," she muttered. "I told him not to buy me white gold again."

She took out her PokéGear, her faced fixed with an expression of stern disapproval. She stabbed a number into the keypad and then held the device up to her ear.

"Hello, Alexander Saturn here. Who's speaking?"

"Alex! You idiot – I told you not to buy me white gold, or any form of expensive jewellery. And what do you do? You buy me a personalised white gold bracelet. Why?"

"Don't you like it?" Alex asked dubiously.

"I love it, but that's not the point," Nika said. "Alex, you don't just buy your friends expensive jewellery. If you keep on buying me this stuff, it's going to give people the wrong impression."

"Sorry, Nika. I couldn't help it; the bracelet just seemed so perfect."

"Well, next time choose a slightly less expensive 'perfect,'" she scolded. "And Cassie and Serena, I know you're eavesdropping at that end, so pay attention: I want you to stop Alex if he tries to buy me stuff like that again. I know he's as stubborn as hell, but please – will you?"

"We'll try," came two guilty replies from the other end. The pair was ashamed that Nika had seen right through them.

"Okay. And Alex, thanks for the present. It is beautiful, but can I speak to Cassie, please?" she asked.

"Sure, I'll just hand the phone over."

There was a lot of shuffling about before Nika heard Cassie's voice again.

"What is it, Nika?"

"I wanted to speak to you about 'the thing.'"

"Oh, well, okay. What do you want to ask?"

Nika excused herself, stood, and left the room, implying that the conversation was quite possibly going to involve someone in the room. Suddenly a ringtone went off.

"Ooh, everything is average nowadays, everything is average now-" went the song before the Kaiser Chiefs were abruptly cut off.

"Hello?" answered Lance, PokéGear in hand. "Oh, hi, Clair. What is it?"

There was a muffled response.

"Huh? No, I didn't know that Nika and Cassie were up to something."

All ears in the room strained to hear what Clair was saying, but to no avail.

"What? They're trying to involve you too?" he paused as Clair spoke again, and then his eyebrows shot up before he replied. "Uh-huh. That is odd – it's not like Cassie to be cryptic about anything."

Lance nodded in response to Clair's next comment. "Well, okay, I'll speak to you soon. Bye, Clair." He put his PokéGear back in his pocket and turned to address the group when he noticed Jasmine's raised eyebrows. "What?"

"I hope you don't think I'm average, mister," she teased.

"Of course I don't – you're so brilliant that nothing is comparable to you."

"Except you?" she prompted.

"Except me," he confirmed. The curious exchanged between the two piqued the attention of many, namely Gary, Riley and Misty.

**~**

After dinner, Ash, Brock and Dawn checked into the large Ecruteak City Pokémon Centre, leaving their pokémon in Nurse Joy's care. Ash and Brock sat down on one of the sofas and began to discuss Team Rocket, while Dawn went to phone her mum, Johanna.

"I mean, I really don't get their problem: they've been following me for almost eight years trying to capture Pikachu, and I know I'm pretty determined, but it's still pretty obvious they're not gonna catch him. Right, buddy?" Ash directed the last part of his statement at his little yellow partner, who was snuggled into Ash's lap.

"I suppose, Ash, but those guys have been a help occasionally," Brock reasoned, feeling a little sorry for the hopeless trio.

"Only when it benefits them, like on Shamouti Island – they only helped because they would've died otherwise."

Brock gave his friend a perplexed look, which Ash returned, until he remembered that Brock didn't accompany him through the Orange Islands.

"Oh, yeah. You were with Professor Ivy – what happened with her anyway?" Brock froze up completely, except for his left eye, which twitched dramatically. Recognizing Brock's action, Ash chuckled at his own stupidity.

"Oh, yeah.... Misty told me to never bring that up."

It was at that point Dawn chose to gleefully bound over and obliviously enquire about what was to never be brought up. In an attempt to distract her and avoid an awkward conversation, Ash pointed randomly at the group who had just entered the Pokémon Centre.

"Look, it's May!"

His loud shout was heard by the girl that he had pointed at, and she looked over, smiling, allowing Ash, Brock and Dawn to see her face. "Oh, wow – it is May."

"Ash! Brock! Dawn!" May shouted across the centre, ignoring her companions' pleas for her to stop attracting attention.

She ran over and skidded along the floor, stopping several feet short of the sofa. "So how are you guys? What are you doing here? Ash, congratulations on your being a champion. Brock, is it true about you and Nika Rowan? Dawn, I'm sorry about you not winning the Grand Festival – that match was so close," the cheerful girl gabbled out in one breath.

Having been bombarded with so many questions, it took the trio a little while to try and compose an answer, enough time for May's companions to amble over.

"Well, look who it is: May's little boy-toys!"

Ash groaned, Brock paled, and Dawn smirked. They realised that they were in the company of the overly feminine Harley. He was followed by a puzzled Drew and a smiling Solidad.

"We're not May's boy-toys, Harley, but..." Brock paused for dramatic effect, taking up Solidad's hands in his own. "I would gladly be yours, Solidad."

Smiling softly, Solidad gently removed her hands from his grip,

"Sorry, Brock. I'm still only interested in older men."

Brock sank dejectedly back into his place on the sofa, triggering snickers from the rest of the group.

"So, Ash," Drew began nonchalantly. "Are you friends with Nika now?"

"Uh-huh. In fact, we're meeting with them in Goldenrod in about a month's time."

"You are?" Drew's face lit up in delight, but he noticed the curious looks he was getting and he coughed nervously. "I mean, since May and I are headed that way, could we travel with you?"

"Sure," said Ash.

"So are you and May travelling together now?" Brock asked, seemingly innocent, but he gave May a suggestive look.

May rolled her eyes and simply shrugged. "Only if we bump into each other and figure out that we're heading in the same direction."

"I can't believe it: I'm finally gonna have another girl to travel with again!" Dawn said.

"Me too!" May replied excitedly, pulling Dawn into a bouncing hug.

Ash, Brock and Drew sighed. "Girls, what are they like?"

**A/N:** Thank you for reading, I'll be back next Monday (hopefully)

Princess Tiger


	18. You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet Part One

A/N: Haven't got much to say in this author's note, so just enjoy I guess... (you all know I don't own Pokémon, right?)

Chapter 20 – You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet – Part 1

"Daisy, I can't believe this! I'm supposed to be in Johto – _now!"_ Misty thundered as she rudely shook her older sister awake.

Daisy opened her eyes and groaned. "Aww, Misty, it's only nine."

"So?" the grouchy red-head snapped. "I have to get up at eight."

"If going to this thing is so important, why haven't ya left already?"

"Because I can't leave the gym unattended.

"Fine, I'll get up. Just quit nagging me," Daisy mumbled as she begrudgingly sat up, ignoring her little sister's triumphant smirk. She shooed Misty away while she began to get dressed. The red-head should also get ready.

When Daisy arrived downstairs, she found Misty dressed and ready, but pleading with Jasmine on the phone to provide her with Dragonite so that she could travel.

"Jasmine, please?"

"Jasmine, if you don't let Misty borrow Dragonite, I'll make you watch _Macbeth_,_"_ came a female voice in the background. Misty presumed it was Clair, since Jasmine was in Blackthorn again. Jasmine visibly paled for reasons unknown, and reluctantly placed her prized pokémon on the pad, pressing a button. It's pokéball reappeared beside Misty, who picked it up and placed it safely on her belt loop.

"Thanks, Jasmine, but why don't you like _Macbeth_?" she asked. Clair's head appeared above Jasmine's shoulder as she cheerful informed Misty of Jasmine's fear.

"Murder Blood."

Misty raised a curious eyebrow. "Murder Blood?"

Clair opened her mouth to answer.

"That's not important now," Jasmine gabbled. "Off you go Misty. Have fun and say 'hi' to the others for me!"

The screen went blank as Jasmine hung up, leaving a pondering Misty behind. She quickly shook it off and dashed through the front door.

"I'll see ya later, Daisy!" she shouted.

Releasing Dragonite, Misty hopped upon its back and it soared into the clear blue sky.

**~**

"Cookie honey?" a rather feminine man asked Nika, shoving a basket of freshly baked biscuits under her nose.

"Ooh, yes, please," she smiled as she took a cookie and began munching it. "They're delicious, almost as good as Marie's." The man's face darkened.

"Almost?" he questioned darkly.

Completely oblivious to his mood, Nika continued. "Yeah, but don't worry, Marie is the most amazing cook ever!"

"Hrmph, and what d'you know, honey?"

"A lot, actually, I've travelled far and wide."

"If you know so much, why don't you compete against me in the contest tomorrow?" the man asked incredulously.

"Fine I will!"

"Betcha won't beat me!"

"Really, you won't be saying that tomorrow!"

"Whatever honey, gotta go powder my nose!" he said, sauntering away and leaving a seething Nika, a confused Ritchie, an equally puzzled Riley and a smirking Gary.

"Right, guys, I'm off to sign up for this contest!" She went to turn away, but Gary stopped her.

"Nika, have you ever been in a contest before?" he asked.

She rolled her eyes behind the dark lenses of her sunglasses, "Of course I've been in one."

"One?"

"Uh-huh and I won it, so I'll be off then!" she said, actually succeeding in her attempt to get away this time, stalking angrily in the direction of the glamorous hall.

Riley glanced at Ritchie. "Do you think she'll realise we're supposed to be at the Pokémon Centre now?"

Ritchie just shrugged in response, then headed in the direction Nika had set off in.

**~**

"Well that's all of us signed up for the contest tomorrow," Dawn said, putting her contest pass away.

"Yeah, how come you're not competing, Drew?"

"Oh me?" he flicked his fringe, taking out his ribbon case. Inside were four decorative ribbons. "I have enough ribbons already."

"Oh, lucky you," May muttered sarcastically.

"Let's get back to the Pokémon Centre, the others should arrive soon," said Dawn.

Just then, the doors of the contest hall swung open violently, and everyone looked toward the young woman who had made the commotion. Removing her sunglasses, she swept her eyes around the lobby, glaring at all those gaping at her. She stopped, however, when she caught sight of a shock of leaf green hair, and the only person who wasn't gawking at her.

Her eyes widening in surprise, she let out a delighted cry. "Palm Tree!"

The guy whirled around, with just enough time to recognise the waves of deep green hair before he was engulfed in one of Nika's bear hugs. He awkwardly hugged her back, then pushed her off him.

"Well, Nika, it's been a while hasn't it?"

"A while, Drew. I haven't seen you in about ten years!"

"That long? How did you recognise me?"

"Drew," she began, reaching up to tug at a lock of his hair. "I'd recognise this de le Havre hair anywhere."

"Of course, how could I forget my family's distinctive hair?" He paused to take out a pokéball, "I kept my promise."

"You did?" Nika fingered the pokéball, her eyes sparkling in delight. "You mean you actually caught a Flygon?"

"Uh-huh, you wanna see it?"

"Sure, just gotta go enter this contest."

Dawn and May, who had been curiously eavesdropping on the exchange between the two, still having no idea where they knew each other from, were about to ask Nika why she was entering the contest. But Ritchie, Riley and Gary entered in the lobby.

"Hey, Riley!" Nika shouted across the room, drawing glares from disgruntled trainers. "Look who I've found!"

The boy turned around and began to head over towards his friend. "Who?"

Nika shoved Drew in front of her, so Riley could see.

"Drew de le Havre, is that you?"

Drew smirked. "Well if it isn't 'Hatboy.'"

"I'm sorry, but can someone tell me how the hell you know each other?" May finally asked. Dawn nodded in agreement.

"Simple: Nika and Riley are childhood friends of mine, from Rotterdam," said Drew.

May considered this for a moment, then went back to being puzzled.

"Wait, how do you know Nika from Rotterdam if you're from La Rousse?"

"Erm…," Nika rolled her eyes. "We'll explain later, but right now I wanna know how Dawn knows Drew and who you are," she pointed at May.

"You know Dawn?" May asked.

"O' course - she's a friend of Ash's," Nika said.

"Wait, you know Ash too?"

Gary groaned, "My God, this is getting too bloody confusing. Nika just sign up so we can meet the others at the Pokémon Centre."

"But-"

"No 'but's, just go, _now!_" Gary cried.

**~**

"Brock, it's taken an awfully long time for May, Drew and Dawn to sign up for this contest. I'm starving," Ash said.

"Ash, we had breakfast less than an hour ago."

"Yeah, but me and Pikachu are dying of hunger here, ain't that right li'l buddy?" he asked.

Refusing to respond to his trainer, Pikachu just curled up on the table to try and get some rest.

"Looks like it's just you who's hungry Ash."

Their conversation was broken off by Harley, who sauntered over to the pair, an unnerving grin plastered to his face. "Well if it isn't May's little boy-toys."

"Harley, we're not her boy-toys." Brock stated calmly, refusing to meet the man's eyes. "What do you want anyway?"

"Just for you to tell your little May that she needn't worry about me in the performance tomorrow - I have a new girl I need to thrash," Harley said, dramatically shuddering at the thought of the girl.

"Really, who?"

"Dunno, she was wearing sunglasses – had funny green hair though."

"Was she travelling with anyone?"

"Three boys, one looked kinda like you," Harley said and gestured at Ash, causing Brock to smirk at his sudden realisation.

"Harley, I think you've just picked Nika Rowan as a rival," Brock said.

The man paled. "Nika Rowan, the Sinnoh Champ?"

"The one and only."

"But that means if I battle her I don't stand a chance, especially if she uses that Gengar," realised Harley.

"Her Gengar is awesome, isn't it?"

"You sure don't see many like that wandering about," a familiar voice from behind the trio piped up. Ash and Brock whirled around to see a familiar, yet windswept red-head striding towards them.

"Misty!" they cried.

"Hey Ash, hey Brock, hey guy I don't know in a funny costume."

"It's not a funny costume, though your hair is another matter entirely. Anyway, gotta go powder my nose!" Harley gabbled, as sauntered away, leaving a positively seething Misty behind.

"What's wrong with my hair?" she demanded.

"Nothing Mist, you hair's really nice," Ash assured.

"Thanks, Ash, excuse me a moment – I need to return this to Jasmine," Misty said, holding up a pokéball. "It's her Dragonite, I borrowed it to fly here," she explained, seeing Ash's puzzled expression.

"So let me get this straight," came May's voice from the other side of the lobby. "Nika is Spook, Drew's childhood friend, but Drew had to move away when his parents died?"

"Correct," Riley answered. "And the Flygon was Cameron's favourite pokémon, which Drew promised Nika he'd catch after Cameron died in a car crash."

"The same one Drew's parents died in, right?"

"Correct."

"Man, you're one complicated group of people," May said.

"Ha, wait until we introduce the others," Gary said teasingly, making May gulp.

"There's others?"

"Sure, you haven't met Alex, Jasmine, Lance, Clair, Cassie or Serena yet," Nika added cheerfully. "Never mind that though – let's go find the others."

"You guys, we're over here!" Ash shouted, waving his arms manically over his head.

"Hey Ash, Misty, Brock!" the group by the door chorused, before skidding across the center lobby.

"Before we have to explain it yet again," Drew announced, glancing at May. "Nika and I are childhood friends, which is how we know each other."

"So you're the Drew from the photo?" Misty asked.

"Yes, Misty, he is. Now, I've just gotta go ring Jasmine..." Nika said.

"Will you take this?" Misty asked, shoving Jasmine's pokéball into Nika's hands.

"Sure. Drew, come with me," she said, seizing his arm before he could answer. Nika dragged Drew over to the video-phones to make a call. Fortunately there was no queue to wait in, but Drew guessed Nika would've skipped it anyway.

"Hello?" a very pale Jasmine said as she answered the phone.

"Oh, hey, Jasmine, you don't look so good," Nika said.

"Clair's making me watch Macbeth again. It's just got to the part where his head gets chopped of and…" she trailed off, shuddering dramatically for effect.

"Murder blood?" Drew offered.

"Yeah. Wait – who is that speaking, Nika?"

"Oh, Jasmine, look who I've found!" Nika shoved Drew into the screen.

"Drew is that you?" Jasmine asked.

"Yes, it is me. So how are you?" He asked.

"Apart from watching Macbeth be beheaded, I'm fine – great in fact. You?"

"Good, thanks. Who is Clair?"

"Lance's cousin – we're good friends, except for when she makes me watch films with blood."

"You've never been good with that stuff, have you?" Drew asked.

"Nah, but we'll watch _Johnny English_ in a moment," brightened Jasmine.

"Oh, that's funny – I saw that with Solidad and May when it came out."

"I know, I love it, but Clair's currently breathing down my neck so I guess she wants to speak to Nika. It was nice speaking to you," Jasmine said.

"Yeah, we'll catch up properly sometime soon; I'll just put Nika on." Drew gestured for Nika to come back to the phone, while Clair's cheery face appeared on the screen.

"Can I help you, Clair?" Nika asked.

"Do you realise what an idiot my cousin is?" she asked.

"What has Lance done?"

"The fool is trying too hard to get this place as a member of the Elite Four for Jasmine," Clair explained.

"What d'you mean?" Nika asked.

"Do you realise how hard it is to become an Elite Four?"

"Honestly, no," Nika admitted.

Clair went on anyway, lost in her thoughts. "And Jasmine is too dense to notice how hard he's working to get this for her," she said.

"Well, I must agree with that one. Have you spoken to Cassie lately?" Nika asked.

"Yes, and she said she's working on it," Clair said.

"Ahh good. How close are you to persuading him to buy it?" Nika asked.

"Not doing brilliantly, but I have a plan," Clair assured.

"And then it'll be my turn."

"What are you planning, Nika?" Ritchie piped up from behind her.

She shot up in alarm. "Ritchie, what are you doing here."

"The others are getting impatient."

"Oh, okay. And in answer to your question, the plan Cassie, Clair and I made up involves your dearest cousin and my darling sister," Nika explained.

"Can I help in anyway?"

"Actually, Ritchie..." Clair said, with a mischievous glint in her eye. "You can."

A/N: And there you have it, Chapter 20, to be continued in Chapter 21, You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet - Part Two.

Thanks to my beta, Raving Adelaide, and to all you wonderful readers.

Chapter title from the song 'You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet' by Bachman - Turner Overdrive, my mum loves it, but I thought it fitted perfectly (I don't own it though).

Anyway, I'll be back next week (hopefully)

Princess Tiger


	19. You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet Part Two

A/N: Right, in the spirit of Christmas, (and also since I've been struck by the dreaded writer's block) I decicded to add May and Dawn's battle onto the end of this chapter, so if you've already read this, you can just skip down to the end (or re-read it, if that's what you want). I'd also like to point out that, for the month of December, I am publishing a Christmas fic called _Pallet Party Panic_ and I'd really appreciate it if you would read (and possibly review) that. Also join the poll on my profile: Cavaliershipping or Penguinshipping?

Chapter 21 – You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet – Part Two

"Well I'm all set for the contest," Nika stated. "May, Dawn, how about you?"

"We're good to go, right Dawn?"

"Yeah, let's go win this contest!" The three girls exchanged a series of high-fives before dashing out of the Pokémon Centre. They ran all the way to the Contest Hall, leaving Ash, Brock, Misty, Drew, Ritchie, Riley and Gary behind at the breakfast table.

"They're all psyched," Ash stated plainly.

"No, Ash," Misty exclaimed sarcastically. "I'd never have guessed that."

"What's the problem with you this morning?"

"Shut up Ash."

"It's that time of the month, isn't it Misty?" Gary playfully suggested.

"No, it's not!" she huffed and stood up, stomping towards the video-phones. "I'm going to ring Daisy."

"Have fun!" Gary hollered after her, earning him one last fierce glare.

"You know, Gary," Brock said. "You should try and be a little nicer to girls; you'll never find love insulting them like that."

"Brock, until you get a girl, do not even try and lecture me on how to get one."

"Shut up, Gary."

"So anyway," Drew began, swiftly changing the topic of conversation. "Who do you think will win the contest?"

"I have no idea. I would say either May or Dawn, but Nika's an awesome battler. If she gets through the appeals, she has a chance of winning."

"You're right, Ritchie, but what about Cookie Guy?" Riley stated, making Drew snort.

"Cookie Guy?"

"He's a weirdo who challenged Nika to beat him in the contest tomorrow, simply because she didn't think his cookies were as good as Marie's," Riley said.

"Did he by any chance have purple hair, a Cacturne suit, and act very feminine?" asked Drew.

"Yeah. Wait, is he that funny rival May was telling us about, Harley?" Riley asked. Drew, Brock and Ash nodded in unison with almost identical smirks on their faces. "So this contest should be interesting…" he said.

A loud cheer sounded from near the video-phones, drawing the group's attention to Misty who was currently dancing for joy beside her phone.

"Somebody's happy," Ash stated again. Before Gary could answer with a suitably sarcastic comment, Misty had already bounced over to the table.

"I'm free! I no longer need to work at the gym! I can travel again!"

"Misty, that's great. You can come with us, just like old times!"

"Yeah, we can, Ash! But right now, I've gotta go tell the others!" Misty cried. She ran out of the Pokémon Centre as fast as she could, bumping into many irate trainers in her excitement.

**~**

Dawn had never realised before just how effective simple things could be. In Johto, co-ordinators had the option to either compose a short lighting display or use Seals for their pokémon's entrance. Naturally, being a complete novice in the production of a successful light display, Dawn had opted to use Seals, and May, not wanting to leave her friend out, had chosen to do so as well. Nika, however, had decided to compose a lighting display, purely because she had been completely unable to stick the Seals to the Ball Capsule, much to the others' amusement. Nika was incredibly angered by Gary's comment, implying that her inability to do something as simple as 'sticking stickers on a ball' was a sign of her shortcomings as both a trainer and co-ordinator, she reacted by chasing him around the dressing room until he collapsed in a heap of laughter and she gave up with her fruitless attempts to force him to apologise.

Smiling at the thoughts of her rather immature friends, Dawn turned her attention to the large screen in the centre of the room, currently showing the ends of Dorian's introduction to the contest.

"First up, we have the renowned co-ordinator who's all the way from Petalburg City. Ladies and gentlemen, let's hear it for May!" Dorian's cheery voice announced, drawing every co-ordinator's attention from their respective activities to the screen.

The room was silent as May took out her pokéball, save for the grumblings of Nika, who was unsuccessfully trying to fix her clip-on microphone, something which rendered Dawn clueless – Nika's voice was loud enough without her needing a microphone.

There was an awed gasp as May released her Beautifly in a flurry of lilac stars and Dawn dragged her attention from her thoughts and stared at the screen.

"Beautifly use Silver Wind!" May commanded and Beautifly obeyed, twirling around and releasing blades of silvery air that swirled around in the centre of the stage, creating a magnificent, glittering vortex.

"Now use Psychic!"

Eyes glowing a light blue, Beautifly moved the blades of air so they were in a star formation that rotated slowly around the Bug-type.

"Now finish with Morning Sun!"

Now she created a beautiful yellow light from her glowing wings and Beautifly spun around once more as the blades of Silver Wind exploded into a shimmery powder that floated gently down to the floor. The appeal complete, Beautifly descended down, landing gracefully on May's head. The crowd erupted into a booming applause and Dorian turned expectantly to the judges as he and May awaited their responses.

"Now that was a lovely appeal," Mr. Contesta said. "May used Beautifly's moves in a unique way that created a stunning effect."

The short, stout Mr. Sukizo, followed with his response, "Simply remarkable!"

"And finally, Nurse Joy, what did you think?" Dorian prompted holding the microphone for her to speak.

"That was a very nice appeal and it is clear that has raised her pokémon very well."

As Nurse Joy finished, the crowd once more began their thunderous clapping and May could have sworn she heard an excited cry of: "I love you Nurse Joy!"

They fell silent again as May's score appeared on the board.

"And an excellent score of twenty-eight point nine, I'm sure this is going to be a hard score to beat, well done, May!" Dorian announced cheerfully to her, and she smiled brightly in return, beginning to skip brightly back to the dressing room. On her way, she passed Nika, who was up next and the two exchanged a high-five before continuing on their respective ways.

Dawn smiled brightly as May approached, congratulating her for the successful appeal, and then turning her attention back to the screen where Nika's appeal was about to start.

In the crowd, Drew shook his head disbelievingly as the lights on stage went off, plunging it into total darkness. He looked at Riley, who was sat on his right.

"So she hasn't changed then?"

"Nope," Riley answered. "Not one bit."

Misty raised an eyebrow while Ash just looked at Drew in confusion. "What the hell are you on about?" she asked.

"Well let's just say: Nika doesn't do things in halves," Drew said simply, turning his attention to the stage.

"And she won't begin until she's sure she's got everyone's undivided attention," Riley added, signalling to the stage while the silent crowd waited with bated breath.

A loud click sounded throughout the auditorium and a bright spotlight beamed down on the pitch black stage, illuminating Nika, but leaving the rest of the stage in darkness.

"Lights," Nika said theatrically, holding a pokéball high above her head with two outstretched arms.

"Camera." She brought her arms gracefully to her sides but the pokéball remained suspended in mid-air, glowing a faint blue.

"Gengar!" she shouted, and the oddly coloured Ghost-type catapulted out of its pokéball, somersaulting in the air and landing at the front of the stage, where it disappeared into the ground.

"Use Shadow Ball!" Nika commanded, and Gengar appeared behind the judges, startling them slightly, then shot a huge dark mass into the air above them which glowed a mysterious purple.

"Now use Psychic!"

Gengar's began to glow a light blue and the floating Shadow Ball began to morph into a ring, which then started to spin anti-clockwise, while Gengar flew up into the centre of the ring and began to spin clockwise.

"Now finish with Haze!"

Still spinning, the Ghost-type exhaled thick black smog from his mouth, cloaking the stage in a dark smoke, completely blocking out himself and Nika from the audience's vision.

As the smoke cleared, the audience could see that the pair had vanished and began to look around in bewilderment.

**~**

Dawn stepped nervously onto the stage. She was the last performance and had some tough acts to follow. Nika and Gengar's theatrical, yet mysterious disappearance at the end of their performance earned them a near perfect score of 29.5, and then Harley with his creepy Cacturne scored almost the same as May, with a 28.8. With these three all having guaranteed places in the final battle rounds, Dawn needed a score of at least 27 to join them. Dawn gulped and looked up to her friends' smiling faces in the crowd, and smiled as well, gaining the confidence she needed for a successful appeal in her Johto contest debut.

"Piplup, spotlight!"Dawn shouted, releasing a spiralling Piplup into a swirling mass of sparkling bubbles. The Water-type landed gracefully and bowed elegantly to the crowd.

"Now use Whirlpool!"

The Water-type began to glow a pale blue and unleashed a powerful swirling mass of water from his beak, using his flippers, Piplup sent the whirlpool so it hovered over the centre of the stage.

"And now use Peck, then Brine!"

Piplup's beak began to glow a bright white and grow longer, before he launched himself into the air and pierced the centre of the whirlpool with his peak, causing the whirlpool to fall apart. Piplup then quickly released a torrent of water which spiralled into the air, gathering up the parts of whirlpool before they hit the ground. Piplup then began to stin faster and faster, until his Brine attack formed a vortex. The little blue pokémon then jumped as the formation exploded around him in mid-air.

"Great job Piplup!" Dawn cheered as her partner jumped into her arms.

After the scores had been announced, Dawn, with a score 0f 28.1, also received a place in the second round. The four participants awaited their match-ups in silence in the dressing room.

"Ladies and Gentlemen!" Dorian announced in his usual cheery voice. "Without further ado, these are the match-ups for the second round!" He gestured his hand toward the screen as the computer began to shuffle the four images and then stopped.

"And it looks like our first second round match will be Nika versus May! Then we have Dawn versus Harley, with the winners proceeding to the final match for the chance to win the magnificent Goldenrod Ribbon!"

**~**

"We're here on stage one, where the first semi-final match is about to begin!" Dorian paused while the crowd cheered in excitement. "We have five minutes on the clock, and let the battle commence!" The timer beeped as the seconds began to decrease.

"Dragonite, time to shine!" Nika shouted as she released her powerful orange Dragon-type.

May seized her own pokéball and released her pokémon with a twirl, "Blaziken, take the stage!"

Nika eyed her opponent before commanding Dragonite to attack, "Dragonite, use Wing Attack!"

The pokémon obliged, launching himself into the air, and darting across the stage, wings glowing a bright white.

"Blaziken, jump up and dodge, then use Fire Spin!" May countered.

As Dragonite neared the Fire-type, he leapt into the air, flying over Dragonite in a perfectly executed somersault, then quickly turned around and blasted a vortex of fire at the Dragon-type, who failed to stop his attack in time to dodge, thus being engulfed by the flames.

"Dragonite, use your Wing Attack to get out of there quick!" Nika yelled, slightly panicked as her points dropped with Blaziken's successful attack.

For a second time, Dragonite's wings began to glow a bright white. The pokémon span quickly, slicing through the flames which quickly faded away to nothing. Upon Nika's signal, Dragonite flew up into the air.

"Now Blaziken, Sky Uppercut!" May ordered.

Blaziken quickly dashed across the stage towards Dragonite, his hands glowing a light blue. He then launched himself into the air and was within a metre of Dragonite, before Nika ordered an attack.

"Aqua Tail!" she commanded, while smirking.

Dragonite spun around and slammed his tail, which was laced with several swirls of water, into the defenceless Blaziken, sending the Fire-type plummeting towards the ground.

Dorian winced as Blaziken made sharp impact with the floor and May cried out to her partner.

"A super-effective direct hit, that's gotta cost May some points."

On cue, May's bar of points decreased significantly, though she was now only a few points below Nika.

"Quick Dragonite, Dragon Breath!" Nika said.

Without hesitating, Dragonite launched a powerful blast of green air at Blaziken, while May quickly debated her choice of moves.

"Blaziken, maximum power Overheat, let's go!" May said.

And Blaziken began to glow red, unleashing his powerful fire attack just before Dragonite's reached him. The flames quickly overcame the Dragon Breath and shot both attacks back at Dragonite, striking him in the stomach and knocking him to the floor.

"Dragonite, no!" Nika cried out in agitation. She relaxed once Dragonite stood back up with a roar of defiance. Nika's points dropped significantly, and with just over a minute to go, she knew she needed a quick turn-around.

"Dragonite, use Aqua Tail one more time!"

May grit her teeth as she tried to come up with a counter attack, waiting until the airborne Dragonite was close enough, May then commanded her attack,

"Blaziken forward roll to dodge then use Blaze Kick!"

As Dragonite somersaulted to gain the necessary momentum for his attack, Blaziken rolled out of the way along the floor, speedily standing up and striking Dragonite in the shoulder with his flaming right foot.

The timer bleeped as the time ran out, the points board clearly stating the winner of the match.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, our winner is May of Petalburg City!" The screen quickly changed so it showed an image of May along with the word, 'Winner.' Both co-ordinators smiled, returning their respective pokémon, before walking to meet in the centre of the stage.

Both smiled as the shook hands,

"That was a good match, Nika. You certainly aren't Sinnoh Champion for nothing!"

"Heh, what can I say? Guess contest matches have never really been my forte, your Blaziken is brilliant by the way."

"Thank you, I've been with Blaziken right from the start."

"No wonder then."

**~**

"So the great Nika Rowan's been defeated then?" A loud voice mocked loudly.

"Shut up Gary, I could still thrash you!" Nika defended hotly.

"Wanna bet?" He challenged playfully, taking out a pokéball on instinct, and Nika doing the same.

"Er- guys, can we save the playful banter until _after_ the contest?" Brock interjected, earning him a two equally menacing glares, but both backed off all the same. They instead turned in their seats to watch the second match.

Having lost her semi-final, Nika had joined the others in the crowd and Gary had taken it upon himself to chide her, while Ash and Misty had a hushed argument to their left over Ash eating all the sweets. As Dorian bounced onto the stage, however, the whole auditorium turned to him, ending their respective conversations, and the entire room was quiet.

Dawn soon joined the announcer, followed by Harley. Both co-ordinators went to stand in their respective places, each taking out a pokéball, faces frowning in determination.

"This is the second match of the second round of this year's Goldenrod contest," Dorian began. "Harley and Dawn, let the battle begin!"

"Come out my darling Cacturne!" Harley shouted, throwing his pokéball. As the menacing Grass-type appeared, both co-ordinator and pokémon stuck an identical pose, placing their right hands on their hips.

"Quilava, spotlight!" Dawn yelled, releasing her Volcano pokémon, who growled, the flames erupting from his back.

"Cacturne honey, show 'em your Bullet Seed!"

With a cry, the sinister looking pokémon launched a barrage of glowing yellow seeds at Quilava with huge velocity.

"Counter attack with a Flamethrower and Flame Wheel!"

Quilava shot a huge flame from his mouth which quickly scorched the seeds, rendering Cacture's attack useless. The Fire-type then began to charge towards Cacturne, becoming cloaked in a thick veil of red-hot fire.

"Cacturne, dodge it!"Harley yelled in desperation and his partner jumped in the air, but Quilava had already anticipated his dodge and he also jumped into the air, turning several times for momentum before he crashed his flaming body into the Grass-type.

"Now use Swift Quilava!" Dawn shouted.

"Cacturne you use Cut!" Harley cried.

Quilava unleashed a barrage of stars from his mouth at Cacturne, who used the needles on his arms to slice through them like they were paper, and the stars fell to the floor in pieces. Dawn let out an irritable sigh of frustration and glanced at the board; there was a minute and a half left and she was in the lead.

"Now, Cacturne, use Needle Arm!"

The spikes along Cacturne's arms and legs began to glow an eerie white and they grew in length to about a metre long.

"Quilava, attack with Double Edge!"

The Fire-type let out a roar of determination, then began charging, with tremendous speed at the approaching foe. Nimbly, Cacturne dodged the charging Quilava, then quickly span around, whacking him with the elongated spikes, which threw the Fire-type across the stage and into the wall.

"Quilava no!" Dawn cried out upon her pokémon's impact. Growling, Quilava stood back up, shaking himself off before padding back to the stage, limping slightly on his right foot. Dawn scowled at the sight of her pokémon in pain, while Harley smirked, slightly sadistic.

"Poison Sting!" He ordered, but before Cacturne conjured up his attack, the timer bleeped, signalling that the time was up.

This time, the winner was less obvious, as both co-ordinators' points levels looked the same, but as the screen changed to display the image of the winner, the victor smiled pleasantly, while the loser scowled menacingly.

"Too bad Harley, good match though!" Dawn told him cheerfully, whilst bouncing around and hugging her Quilava.

**~**

The two finalists met at the centre of the stage to the sound of the booming crowd. Both smiled pleasantly as they shook hands.

"Déjà Vu, eh, Dawn?" May chuckled. "Let's both give it our all!"

"Alright, but I'm gonna win this!" Dawn answered cheerfully.

"That's what you think!"The pair then turned around and headed for their respective places. They took out their pokéballs and turned to face each other, both faces set with an identically determined glare.

"May and Dawn!" Dorian shouted into his microphone, trying to be heard over the thunderous crowd; they quieted instantly.

"Are you ready?" Both co-ordinators gave a stiff nod in response. "Good, then let the battle begin!" Dorian hollered, and the crowd broke out into a thunderous applause while May and Dawn enlarged their pokéballs, eyeing each other with equally determined stares.

"Blaziken, take the stage!" May shouted, releasing her powerful Blaze pokémon as he fired up the flames on his wrists.

"Quilava, spotlight!" The Volcano pokémon appeared with a roar, flaming up his neck and tail. Both Fire-types adopted their partners' stances, facing each other with hard and intimidating stares.

"Blaziken, Blaze Kick!" May ordered. Immediately, Blaziken leapt into the air, flipped over and hurtled towards Quilava, his flaming right foot first.

"Quilava, dodge it!" Dawn shouted. The Fire-type quickly darted out of the way, leaving Blaziken to crash into the floor which formed a huge grater where Quilava had stood. Dawn breathed a sigh of relief.

"Right Quilava, Double Edge now!" Quilava, span around a quickly charged into Blaziken as he was standing up, sending him straight into the floor.

"Blaziken, Sky Uppercut!" The Blaze pokémon, leapt up again and began to charge towards Quilava, claws glowing white.

"Quilava, spin to dodge!" Dawn shouted.

"Oh no you don't!" May yelled. "Blaziken, flip, kick, smash!"

"Blaze!" he pokémon shouted in response, slamming his hands down into the ground, thus flipping him over and towards Quilava foot first. Quilava leapt to the side of Blaziken rotating to the side of the larger pokémon. May, who had seen this coming, smirked as Blaziken back-flipped overhead and smashed into Quilava with a Blaze Kick, crushing his opponent between himself and the floor.

"Quilava, no!" Dawn cried. "Get up!"Roaring, Quilava stood up, shaking slightly from the impact and the fire on his back blazed even more fiercely.

"Right, Flame Wheel!" Quilava charged towards Blaziken, wrapped in a flaming cloak of fire.

"Blaziken, use Overheat on yourself!" Releasing a white-hot torrent or fire from his mouth, Blaziken leapt into the air and began to spin rapidly so the attack formed a vortex.

"Now, attack!" Blaziken charged for Quilava, while he was still charging for him. Both co-ordinators stood with equally determined expressions as both the Fire-types surged towards each other like flaming comets. The stadium was deadly silent, waiting with bated breath.

As both pokémon looked set to collide, May quickly called to her partner.

"Blaze kick!" The Fire-type collided with Quilava with extra velocity from his fall, sending up a vast cloud of smoke and dust.

"Wow," said the stunned Dorian, his eyes wide. The judges nodded in agreement, all three as equally lost for words.

"And it looks like…" Dorian began as he peered through the smoke, trying to distinguish which Fire-type was the standing silhouette. "Quilava is unable to battle, May and Blaziken are the winners!"

There was a brief silence, then the audience broke out into a thunderous applause.


	20. Gold

A/n: I apologise profusely for the ridiculous lateness of this chapter and I will try and make it up to you readers as soon as possible (I'm halfway through Chapter 23). Also I would greatly appreciate it if you read Pallet Party Panic, a Christmas fic I wrote that I'm very proud of.

I'd advise listening to Gold by Spandeau Ballet towards the end of the chapter, it really seems to fit, I had it on repeat when I wrote it.

Christmas looks to be eventful for our group of friends: Pokémon addicted to ketchup, interfering mothers, mothers with megaphones, scheming women, oblivious males, annoying brothers armed with mistletoe, awkward moments, baby Eevees, epiphanies, diamonds, rain and the unfortunate presence of Sing Star.

**Chapter 22 – Gold**

Misty sighed as she sat on the bottom mattress of the Pokémon Centre bunk bed that she shared with Dawn. Knowing that it would be a while until Ash and Brock returned from training, and with Dawn in the shower, the red-head felt it would be safe to continue wrapping presents.

To Misty, October had passed quickly; every day seemingly merged into one big blur and November had gone by in pretty much the same fashion.

She took out the present she had managed to get earlier, the one for Ash which she had spent a lot of time trying to get hold of. From her bag she removed a shiny new Great Ball. She stared at the sphere in her hand intently for a moment before releasing its occupant.

In a flash of red light a small Eevee appeared with a joyful cry. He chased his tail round madly and Misty laughed softly as she took out a can of Brock's Normal Pokémon food. She filled a small bowl of the food in front of the Eevee who joyfully leapt forward and began tucking into the food ravenously.

"Eat your fill, little fella," Misty cooed at the Normal-type. When he had finished eating, the Eevee curled into a small ball drowsily and Misty returned him to the small Great Ball. She placed the ball in a red gift box, hand-decorated with gold sequin stars. The red-head gently slid on the lid of the box and tied it shut with a silky green Christmas ribbon.

On a gold gift label she wrote:

_To Ash_

_Merry Christmas! I know you've always wanted one of these._

_Lots of Love, Misty_

She quickly re-read the note then attached it to the small box. Satisfied with her wrapping skills, she placed it in the bag that already held the wrapped presents for Brock and Delia.

_Just Dawn's and Pikachu's to go_, Misty thought. She went to take out the perfume she bought for her younger companion, but decided against it when she heard the water stop running. Instead, she took out Pikachu's two-litre bottle of ketchup and started to wrap it in her blue snowman paper.

Dawn wandered into the room, dressed in her pyjamas and towelling her wet navy hair.

"Still waiting on that phone-call, Misty?" she asked cheerfully.

"Yeah, I'd thought I'd wrap some presents instead," she replied, gesturing towards the wrapped present laying on the small Pokémon Centre desk.

"I can't believe tomorrow's Christmas Eve!" Dawn mused excitedly.

"Nor can I," Misty said, a little less enthused than her companion. "It's nice of Mrs. K to let us stay for Christmas."

"And it's nice of your sisters to let us join their New Year's party." Misty nodded as she stuck the label onto Pikachu's present and added it to the others in the bag.

Just then, Misty's pink PokéGear started to vibrate frantically on the desk filling the air with a **tinny** version of 'Jingle Bells'. Misty gave Dawn a half-glare for changing her ring-tone again then shooed the teenager away while she answered the phone.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Misty," a male voice answered, straining to be heard over singing in the background.

"Lance, what the hell's that?" she asked carefully.

"Nika and Jasmine took over Sing Star," he replied simply. "They're currently ruining Vertigo."

"Oh, poor you," Misty answered, wincing at her recollection at her friends' singing.

"Lance, who's that?" A voice chirped in the background.

"Cassiopeia, go away," Lance ordered his sister, sounding a little further away.

"Anyway," Misty began again when he returned to the phone, "What did you want to ask?"

"Oh, yeah," he paused to think. "Right, have you got any news?"

"Not really, we're heading over to stay with Delia in Pallet tomorrow. We're in Viridian at the moment, then on the twenty ninth we're going to stay with my sisters 'til the second."

"Good, remember to watch out for any unusual activity and inform me if you see those Team Rocket people again. I trust you've not seen them?"

"No, it's really odd," Misty frowned, "I haven't seen them since August."

"Right, so Team Rocket probably are planning something," he concluded quietly. "You keep a watch on Ash. I've got the other champs covered."

"Alright, I'll call you with any news."

"I may not answer, so it's best if you try Drake - he's taking care of HQ over Christmas."

"Okay, have a nice Christmas!"

"Merry Christmas to you too."

Lance hung up the phone with a sigh. This G-man stuff was hard work.

_But right now,_ he thought with a grimace,_ I need to find a way to get Jasmine and Nika off that damn Sing Star._

Within three seconds, his prayers were answered by his mother, who called the whole household to dinner. He entered the dining room and sat down in one of the many places at the table, watching with mild amusement as everyone struggled to find a chair.

The thing Lance hadn't realised when he and Jasmine first became friends was that their parents would hit it off so well. It inevitably became that the Rowans and Saturns would join the Kirks for Christmas every year, and the Rowans and Saturns invited the Kirks to the joint New Year's party that they held. He really only had one problem with this: his parents' home was bursting at the seams with people; Lance, his parents, his sister, Ritchie and his parents, Clair and her parents, Will, Diana, Jasmine and Nika Rowan, and Alex and Riley Saturn, plus their parents, and Gary Oak too. All in all, Lance worked out that his humble childhood home, equipped with only four bedrooms plus a study, had to house eighteen fully grown people for a whole week.

He really had to find away to get rid of that Sing Star.

**~**~**

"Dawn and Misty," a female voice whined. "How do you deal with family that you really wished you could disown?"

"Oh, May," Dawn cooed, "What are they doing now?"

"Dad's having the 'boyfriend' talk with Drew, and Max keeps on holding mistletoe above my head when Drew's around and mom's being, well, _mom_," she moaned in despair.

"Well, it's your own fault for inviting him for Christmas, you should've gone to the Kirks," Misty chided nonchalantly.

May scowled. "They had eighteen guests already, and _Sing Star_," she retorted haughtily.

"Geez, May, I was only kidding," Misty defended. "But on the subject of family: just ignore them. If you let them see that they're bothering you then they'll only do it all the more."

"Thanks, Dr. Waterflower," May replied sarcastically. "That's exactly what Solidad said."

The brunette turned her head to look at Dawn. "Now, Dawn, any useful advice?"

"Well, I'd say that since you do like Drew," Dawn began, ignoring her friend's scowl at this comment. "You should tease back and joke around, y' know, kiss Drew on the cheek when the mistletoe comes."

The Co-ordinator flushed a bright pink. "Dawn, I can't do that!" she spluttered.

"Oh, c'mon, May, lighten up, it's Christmas, have fun. Live a little," Dawn ordered cheerily.

"I can 'live a little' without hitting on one of my best friends, thank you," May protested haughtily.

"Well, you're a lost cause then," Misty concluded. "Give our Christmas wishes to your family!"

"Yeah, give mine to Ash and Brock too!" May replied cheerily as her mother announced that it was breakfast in the background.

"Merry Christmas, May!" Dawn and Misty chorused before they hung up.

"Now," Misty began dramatically, "Let's get to Pallet!"

**~**~**

Christmas Eve. Lunchtime. A time when all those who haven't wrapped their presents panic and finally begin, and this is what was happening exactly in the overcrowded Kirk household. Eighteen people, each armed with a roll of wrapping paper, scissors and cellotape,, had hidden themselves in a corner and started the immense task of wrapping the presents they had bought for the people within the house.

Cassie was in the small guest study with her brother, and took this opportunity to pester him.

"Lance, what did you get Jasmine?" she cooed innocently.

"A present," he answered. She scowled in frustration.

"I mean: what did you get, specifically?" she asked, a little less sweetly.

"Jewellery," he answered shortly in the same monotone. This time, the pink-haired woman didn't suppress the urge to growl in frustration.

"What are you, Clair and Nika plotting?" he asked, ignoring his sister's irritation and changing the subject.

"Nothing," she replied nonchalantly.

"Don't deny it," he said, "I know you've also got poor Ritchie involved and I have the strangest gut feeling that it centres on me."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Cassie scoffed, feigning innocence. "And you shouldn't flatter yourself so much."

"Whatever, Cass. I'm on to you."

Meanwhile, on the dirt road outside Pallet, Misty, having grown fed up of Ash's incessant complaining, started to run ahead, through the quiet sub-urban areas to avoid the seventeen-year-olds _I'm hungrys_.

She arrived at the Ketchum residence out of breath and about five minutes ahead of the others.

"Misty," Delia greeted cheerfully as she opened the door. "Where are the others?"

"Oh, I ran ahead," Misty panted, gesturing lamely behind her. "I got sick of Ash's moaning."

Delia shook her head knowingly, "I swear, he gets worse with age."

"Tell me about it," Misty muttered.

"Well, let's go get dinner on the table then," Delia said, allowing Misty into the house.

By the time the two women had set the table with five places, Ash, Brock, and Dawn had arrived and joined Misty and Delia to eat.

After lunch the four travellers sprawled on various pieces of furniture in the lounge while they half-watched a Christmas movie on the television. Delia sat in the kitchen fixing Ash's threadbare stocking.

At about four, when Delia came to check on them, they were all sleeping soundly on the sofas (well, Brock was snoring and Misty was murmuring something), so she tip-toed out the room to come back moments later with Ash's old toy megaphone. She crept into the centre of the lounge and checked to make sure the megaphone was on full volume, smirking evilly the whole time.

"Time to wake up peeps!" she shouted into the megaphone, her voice coming out at a deafening volume. Ash, Brock, Misty, and Dawn all leapt out of their skin and looked around frantically, their eyes falling on the hysterical Delia.

Ash scowled. "Mom, that wasn't funny."

"It was," Delia retorted. "Just not for you peeps."

Ash sighed. "Must you keep using peeps?"

"Ash," Misty answered. "She's your mom. What d'ya expect?"

**~**~**

Ritchie watched with amusement as his father, Mick, dragged Lance into the centre of the lounge for a Sing Star battle.

"Uncle Mick," Lance began stubbornly. "I absolutely-"

"Are doing it," Jasmine finished with a sly smirk. Her friend shot a glare, but none the less, reluctantly chose a song to sing.

"Can Lance sing?" Nika whispered to Ritchie, who was sat beside her on the sofa.

"Wait and see," Ritchie answered as the guitarist strummed the first few bars.

"_There is a house in New Orleans," _Lance began loudly, drowning out his uncle, "_They call the Rising Sun."_

"My goodness, he can sing," Nika whispered to Ritchie.

The auburn-haired man nodded. "All our family are surprising tuneful, unlike yours."

Nika pouted playfully. "Not true, my dad was a choir boy."

"But he's not anymore," Ritchie pointed out.

"No," she chuckled. "His voice broke halfway through a solo rendition of 'Once in Royal David's City'."

"_There is a house in New Orleans,_

_They call the Rising Sun,_

_And it's been the ruin of many a poor boy,_

_And God, I know, I'm one_," Lance sang as the song drew to a close, as the instrumentalists stopped playing Jasmine broke out into applause, the sixteen others in the room soon joining in. Lance smiled and calmly sat back down in the armchair he had previously occupied.

"Now, who's up next?" Mick challenged.

"Me!" Nika shouted eagerly.

"No!" Ritchie protested. "I'll do it!" Mick gave his son a curious look.

"Anything to stop a Rowan singing," Ritchie muttered in explanation. His dad nodded.

"Cassie, you go up too," Lance chimed from his armchair, his sister scowled, but got up all the same, joining her cousin in the centre of the room.

"Random select," Mick said, pressing the button on the remote. The console shuffled through the tracks and landed on a song that made those in the room, except for Ritchie, hoot with laughter.

"No," Ritchie refused, "I am not singing 'Papa Don't Preach'."

"But you are," Nika replied smirking. "You said you'd do anything to stop me singing."

Ritchie scowled, defeated, and held the blue microphone to his mouth as the song began."

**~**~**

May flopped down onto her bed, exhausted and thoroughly humiliated. As she lay staring at the Beautifly stickers on her ceiling, she vowed to never take Dawn's advice again. The brunette had never been so embarrassed in all seventeen years of her existence.

_And that's saying something,_ she thought bitterly.

There was a knock on the door and a voice calling her name.

_Drew_, May thought as she sat up abruptly; unfortunately hitting her head on her pink bookshelves, hard. She yelped as she clutched her head, cussing under her breath.

"May are you alright?" a concerned Drew asked from the other side of the door.

"I'm fine," she grumbled. "The door's open."

A few moments later, Drew was beside her on the bed, carefully examining the bump on her head. Neither said anything and as the minutes progressed the silence started becoming unbearable awkward, at least for May.

After what felt like an eternity, she caved.

"Look, I'm sorry about before."

"Oh, don't worry about it," Drew replied, shrugging her apology off. "It was only a harmless kiss on the cheek."

"But I really embarrassed you!" the brunette protested.

"No, you didn't. Sure, it was a little humiliating, but I can handle it," he reasoned. "And," he added. "I'll remind you not to take Dawn's advice ever again."

"Wait- what, I…" May stuttered uselessly.

"I heard you phone call with Dawn, well, most of it," he replied.

Before anymore could be said, Max came down the hall, and poked his head around the door, grinning mysteriously.

"May, this room is filled with the innocence of your childhood and we don't want that tarnished," he chastised jokingly, "Use the guest room – Aunt Marge and Uncle Frank did."

May didn't think she'd seen Drew blush so hard, ever.

**~**~**

Ash and Dawn bounced down the stairs to the lounge, cheeringly loudly. Behind, Misty trudged sleepily down. When she reached the lounge, Ash and Dawn were waiting on the sofa eagerly eying the presents, barely able to contain their excitement.

"You two are almost grown-up, act like it," Misty grumbled.

"You act like you're thirty, live a little," Ash chided in response. Misty glared at him drowsily and shuffled into the kitchen to get her morning coffee.

Delia and Brock were bustling about the kitchen, preparing eggs, bacon and sausages for breakfast.

Misty sluggishly poured her coffee out of the cafetière, added milk, and shuffled back into the lounge.

As she drank her coffee, Misty watched Ash and Dawn with mild amusement as they sat at the base of the tree, shaking presents, and excitedly guessing what could be inside.

After about five minutes, Delia called them to breakfast which unearthed a huge groan from Ash and Dawn. Delia walked into the lounge and gave them a motherly look while they begged her pleadingly with their eyes.

"Alright," she conceded, unable to bare their 'angel' eyes any longer, "I'll let you open one present before breakfast, just one."

The two cheered in unison.

"And they're supposed to be young adults," Delia commented with a fond shake of her head.

Ash and Dawn each sat at the breakfast table with their selected gifts. Ash had typically chosen his biggest one – a huge box from Delia – and Dawn had selected a small present from Ash.

Before he even looked at the food, Ash tore off the red wrapping paper to reveal a large parcel box which he opened just as vigorously. His eyes shone with delight as he pulled back the lid of the box to reveal…

"Underpants!" Ash exclaimed, his smile upturning to show his disgust.

"You always need them honey," Delia stated with a small smirk as she placed his breakfast in front of him. He ignored his present and immediately began shovelling the food into his mouth.

"Ash, you disgusting pig," Misty said as she carefully spooned some of her cereal into her mouth.

"I'mth humgwy," he answered with his mouth full and a number of chewed up bacon pieces spilled out. Misty paled and drained the rest of her coffee, pushing the rest of her own breakfast away in disgust.

Meanwhile, Dawn was slowly peeling off the sticky-tape on her present, being extra careful so as not to rip the paper. When she had fully de-sticky-taped one end, she slid out the long thin box. She opened it carefully to reveal a silver necklace with a delicate aquamarine pendant.

"It's beautiful," she breathed. Ash simply nodded in response, not daring to speak after receiving a warning glare from the fiery red head sat beside him.

Dawn placed the jewellery box down beside her and started to tuck in to her own plate of pancakes.

After they had finished breakfast, Ash, Misty, Dawn, Brock and Delia all sat down in the lounge to begin to open their presents. Ash had seated himself by the tree so he could hand out the presents to people.

"Now Misty, this one's for you off me," Ash said as he handed a glittery red bag to his friend. "And Pikachu, this one's for you from Brock."

"Pika," the little yellow mouse cheered delightedly as the gift box was placed before him. Pikachu charged his tail and tapped the box with a glowing Iron Tail, slicing the lid in half.

"Pika pika pikachu!" he cried in delight as he saw the box was brimming with Brock special Electric Pokéchow.

Misty smiled as a little yellow blur shot across the room to hug the breeder and then started to open the gift bag. Inside were two small boxes, each wrapped in green tissue paper.

Misty picked out the larger box and unwrapped it. After opening the white box she carefully pulled out a crystal Lapras figurine. She held it out on her palms to admire it, as it caught the different coloured lights from the Christmas tree.

"It's gorgeous," she breathed.

"I knew you'd like it," Ash answered with a small smug smile. "Go on, open the other bit."

Doing as she was told, Misty gently placed the Lapras back in the box and got out the other box. Inside the several layers of tissue paper was a soft black velvet jewellery box.

Misty stared wide eyed at the box and slowly opened it. Four pairs of eyes watched her closely, eager to find out what was inside.

The red-head's eyes brimmed with joyful tears at the water-drop shaped sapphire, surrounded by a cluster of diamonds on the white gold chain.

"It's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen," Misty whispered.

**~**~**

"But you're an idiot for buying it," Jasmine added glancing between the antique ruby brooch and Lance who was sat opposite her.

"Why can't they take a hint?" Cassie whispered in Nika's ear. "He bought her _jewellery._"

"Coz they're dense idiots," the green-haired woman answered simply.

"That they are," Clair agreed.

"Now let me open mine!" Nika said eagerly, starting to vigorously tear open the wrapping on her small present.

"Nika do you even know who it's off?" Ritchie asked dubiously. She just shrugged and tore open the box.

"A pokéball!" she cheered.

**~**~**

"What's inside?" Ash mused, staring at the spherical capsule in his hands intently.

"Well, you could release the pokémon inside," Misty suggested sarcastically.

"Go pokéball!" Ash shouted (a little too loudly considering the close proximity in which people where sitting).

In a flash of red light, the small red Evolution pokémon appeared at his feet.

"An Eevee," he cooed. "Thanks, Misty!"

Misty smiled in response, but her grin faded slightly as she sniffed the air.

"Do you smell burning?"

Delia leapt up from her seat, "Oh my God! The turkey!" She sprinted out the lounge into the kitchen, followed by Brock.

Fortunately, there were no billowing clouds of smoke, but when the five sat down to dinner, it was more than a little crispy.

**~**~**

Lance paced down the corridor; after having an epiphany of the scale of the one he had just had, he needed to speak to someone well versed in the matter at hand. Someone whose idea of love was so ridiculously corny it fitted with the even more ridiculous and corny situation that he found himself in. He needed to speak to his father.

How hard was it to find a giant of a man in a small suburban house filled with more people than ever was thought possible? Impossible. He had even checked the shed, which was ridiculous since no one would dare spend longer than need be in the rickety old structure that was somehow colder than the sub-zero temperatures outside.

Lance came to a conclusion: Fate hated him. So he just concluded to speak to Alex instead.

It was only when he found himself stood opposite the usually stoic face of the dark haired man did he realise how truly awkward this conversation was going to be.

"Soooo," Lance began, drawing out the 'o' for an unnecessarily long time.

"So," Alex repeated with a perplexed shrug.

Not wanting to beat about the bush, Lance gave up on trying to find and awkwardness-free way of starting the conversation and got straight to the point.

"Well, I've just had an epiphany," Lance stated. When Alex's stony expression refused to change and it became apparent he wasn't going to say anything, Lance started to explain.

"I've just realised that I want to spend the rest of my life with someone. What do I do?" he asked the question almost desperately, something which triggered some action on Alex's poker face; he raised an eyebrow. And was that the ghost of a smile pulling on the edge of his lips?

"Stop acting like a mushy idiot and go get her," Alex stated simply.

"Will you come with me to buy the ring?" Lance begged, his grey eyes forming the 'angelic' look one would expect to see on a guilty toddler, not a twenty-seven year old man who towered over the majority of the population. On Lance it looked totally ridiculous.

"Sure," Alex answered simply. Both men seized their coats and strode out into the cold December nights without a farewell.

Now all Lance had to do was navigate through the post-Christmas sales that had begun on the previous day and find what he was searching for.

**~**~**

"Have you tried ringing them?"

"Yes, but the stupid idiots left their PokéGears behind," Nika answered through gritted teeth as she rubbed her temples in exasperation.

"Well okay, I'll call you if I hear anything," Dawn said, then bid the Sinnoh Champ her farewell and hung the receiver on its hook beside the monitor.

"Oh my God," she exclaimed dramatically as she entered the lounge, wide eyed.

"What happened?" Misty asked in a monotone, her head buried in a book.

"Lance and Alex have disappeared – like poof – and no-one knows where they've gone. And they have no phones, and Jasmine's all mad, and no-one can look 'cause it's too cold, and _everyone_ else is all mad, and Nika doesn't know what to do, and Cassie thinks she saw Lance looking for their dad, but he doesn't know anything, and, like, all of the neighbourhood is looking for them," the blue haired girl gabbled excitably.

Misty placed her book down on the coffee table and sat back wide-eyed as she absorbed this rush of information.

"So let me get this straight," the red-head began, gesturing with her hands. "Lance has vanished with Alex." Dawn nodded.

"Why though? Both people seemingly involved in this are males, so that would suggest he was looking for guy advice…" Misty reasoned, pacing about the room and gesturing wildly.

"Maybe he's realised he loves Jasmine!" Dawn cheered loudly.

Misty winced at the girl's volume. "No," she answered, "That doesn't explain his disappearance, or Alex's."

Dawn's shoulders drooped, the romantic part of her heart didn't want to believe Misty but the realistic part knew what she wanted was unlikely to happen.

"We can always hope," Dawn offered as Misty flopped back down.

"I suppose, but we have to get on," Misty concluded, standing up again, "We have to leave for Cerulean tomorrow."

"Yeah, I'll go pack," Dawn sighed, leaving the room to head upstairs.

**~**~**

Jasmine paced up the room, and down the room, up the room and down the room, up the room and… yeah, the point is made.

Nika sat slumped in an armchair her hazel eyes swinging back and forth as she watched her sister pace about the room. Ritchie lay on the sofa flicking aimlessly through the TV channels, not really looking for something to watch. Clair was seated on a footstool, sawing viciously at her nails with a nail file. Cassie was sprawled on the floor, her fingers lazily drumming a rhythm on the glass coffee table. All were waiting for something to happen. Nothing was though.

Five minutes later, and no-one had moved except to carry on with their various un-exertive activities. Then Jasmine abruptly halted her pacing.

"This is it!" she fumed. "I've had it! I'm going to look for him!" Her dark hair rippled behind her as she stormed out the room.

"But it's raining," Nika protested.

"Do I give a crap?" Jasmine shouted back, followed a few seconds later by the slamming of the front door.

"Warpath," Ritchie chimed, placing down the remote and wandering to the window.

"What the-?" came a yell from outside. All three females dropped what they were doing and ran to the window.

Through the curtains, in the lamp-lit street quite a scene was unfolding before them. Jasmine was stood in the rain screaming insults and expletives at the windswept male before her. He just stared at her.

"Not a very orthodox way to show love," Clair commented nonchalantly in order to try and break the tension that had seeped in from outside.

"Poor Alex," Nika whispered, glancing at her friend who had stood off to the side, avoiding the ranting Jasmine.

Lance remained silent, an unreadable look in his eyes.

"Well, why did you go?" Jasmine finished, an exasperated, almost pleading tone to her voice.

"Can I ask you something?" Lance asked, ignoring her question. She nodded dumbly.

"Jasmine Love Rowan, you are the most stubborn, yet most wonderful woman in the world. Will you do the honour of marrying me?"

**~**~**

Worst cliff-hanger ever, eh?


	21. For Auld Lang Syne

Last Time on Friendship, Love and Rivalry…

Lance and Misty have a phone-call about something no one really gets; Jasmine and Nika murder 'Vertigo' on Sing Star; everyone in the Ketchum residence seems to get nice presents; Mrs K burned the turkey; Lance had an epiphany and then disappeared with Alex; Jasmine goes mental when they return two days later and this happens:

_ "Well, why did you go?" Jasmine finished, an exasperated, almost pleading tone to her voice. _

"_Can I ask you something?" Lance asked, ignoring her question. She nodded dumbly._

"_Jasmine Love Rowan, you are the most stubborn, yet most wonderful woman in the world; will you do the honour of marrying me?"_

So it ended in one of the worst cliff-hangers ever with Lance proposing to Jasmine in the rain. Romantic, huh? So how will it end? Will she say yes? Read on and find out (unless you've already read to see the answer to those questions, spoilsports (I'm kidding).

So… Without further ado, and that includes any more of my melodramatic blathering, I present to you

**Chapter 23 – For Auld Lang Syne**

The small suburban street in downtown Blackthorn was almost deathly silent that night. From the sky, torrents of rain lashed down on three people, but that was the only sound made.A woman stood with her back to the open door of No. 8, staring at the man before her in amazement, a look that matched those of the fifteen faces, now peering through the front window of the house. The source of their amazement? This red-haired man, down on one knee, holding out a ring to the woman. Behind him, a dark figure, another man, leaned against the lamppost, his glinting dark eyes surveying the pair with little surprise.

Inside, a short blast of _Perfect Day_ went off, and a small woman, the one closest to the window, quickly answered it.

"Hello?"

"Nika!" a cheerful voice greeted from the other line.

"Hi, Dawn," Nika answered, a distant tone to her voice that matched her shell-shocked expression.

"What's wrong?" the girl asked concernedly.

"Lance is back," she answered slowly.

"Great," Dawn cheered.

"And he just proposed," she added in the same distant tone.

"He _what_?" Dawn screeched. Nika winced and moved the phone away from her ear.

"Proposed," she repeated clearly.

"Oh my God," Dawn exclaimed, a tone of wonderment to her voice. "Misty!" she shouted, her voice sounding far away from the receiver.

There was the sound of someone thundering down the stairs, and then an irritated,

"_What?_"

"Speak to Nika," Dawn ordered, some shuffling followed.

"What is it?" Misty sighed, now on the phone.

"Lance proposed," Nika said, slightly monotonously, since she was starting to tire of the repetitiveness of the conversation.

"_What?!_"

"Will you be quiet? I'm trying to watch _Total Showdown_!" Ash hollered from somewhere in the house, presumably the lounge.

"Well, we're dealing with a romantic crisis!" Dawn hollered back.

"Has she said 'yes' yet?" Misty asked, sounding a little stressed.

"Not yet," Nika answered, and glanced out the window.

"Is anything happening yet?" Misty asked. Nika remained silent as something did, indeed, start to happen outside…

Jasmine stared, amazed, into his normally steely-grey eyes, now brimming with earnest hope. Her heart was beating fast; she'd never have expected this in a million years. As the shock started to drain away, her brain finally began to process his words.

A small smile played at her lips as she threw her arms around Lance's neck knocking him to the ground. As she lay on top of him in the pouring rain, she placed a gentle kiss on his lips and whispered one word.

"Yes."

Lance's face formed a wide grin, "Shall we get out this puddle then?"

Inside Nika cheered and started to dance around the living room with the other younger adults while the parents smiled and took their seats.

"What happened?" Dawn and Misty asked in unison, still receiving no response from Nika on the other line.

"I'm gonna have a brother-in-law!" Nika shouted into the phone, then ended the call quickly to continue her celebratory dance around the room with Cassie, Clair, Ritchie, Riley, and Gary.

**~**~**

"Doesn't the champagne make it seem all the better?" Cassie gushed.

"And it make grammar suck!" Riley added joyously.

"I didn't think nothing like this would happen for ages and ages and ages and ages a- Oh! Look, there's jelly beans!" Nika said and cheerily skipped over to the table. Her smile developed into a pout however as she learned that her precious jelly beans were in fact the pattern on the empty bowl.

"Well, that's crap," she muttered and chugged down the rest of the champagne in her glass.

"I make me sad," Clair muttered as she glanced at the vaguely sober Jasmine and Lance who sat happily on the sofa together with their hands entwined. "That I'm twenty-five and still single."

"Poor Clair," Ritchie slurred, patting her on the back, "You'll find someone."

"Isn't New Year's the best?" Gary asked excitedly as he skipped over to the group gathered in the Kirk lounge.

"Only one minute to go!" Cassie agreed.

Across the room, Diana Rowan stood talking to Marie with a small smile on her face. "It makes you feel old, doesn't it? When your kids start getting drunk," she said.

"I wouldn't mind so much if they hadn't used up almost all the bottles of champagne before midnight," Marie answered with a chuckle.

Everyone turned their attention towards the television and joined in as the reporter in Goldenrod Plaza began the countdown.

"Ten…"

"…Nine…"

"…Eight…"

"…Seven…"

"…Six…"

**~**~**

"…Five…"

"…Four…"

"…Three…"

"..Two…"

"…One…"

"…Happy New Year!" Misty shouted in unison with all the others gathered at Cerulean's Gym for New Year.

Since Delia's impeccable organisation had ensured everyone was in a circle before the New Year countdown, all they had to do was join hands and begin to sing,

"Should _old_ acquaintance be forgot,  
and never brought to mind ?  
Should _old_ acquaintance be forgot,  
and _old_ lang syne ?

For auld lang syne, my dear,  
for auld lang syne,  
we'll take a cup of kindness yet,  
for auld lang syne.

And surely you'll _buy_ your pint _cup_ !  
and surely I'll _buy_ mine !  
And we'll take a cup o' kindness yet,  
for auld lang syne."

After they finished, the circle dispersed as the party goers started to mill about, happily wishing each of their friends a happy New Year. Misty smiled as she sipped her champagne, watching her friends welcome in the new decade.

Now she was travelling with Ash again, Misty knew it was certainly going to be an eventful adventure.


	22. On a Day Like Today

**A/N: I've eventually managed to publish this, and I hope you like it. Without giving too much away, this chapter is setting things up for what's to come, including what is mentioned previously, the Champions' League!**

**If you havent read my profile, I'm basically publishing a rewrite with every new chapter, with this one, I have published a rewrite of Chapters 5 and 6 which have been combined. I recommend reading these rewrite after they have all been published, as I am adding some extra plot details and changing some things to make the story more interesting and a little more complex. Jenn, my beta has said that she thinks the rewrites are a better set up for the story, so I hope you do too. **

**Oh and don't forget to vote in my poll - 'Who is your favorite Pokémon rival?'**

**And without further blathering in this fairly long author's note, I present to you Chapter 23 of Friendship, Love and Rivalry (which would actually be Chapter 24 had I not combined some earlier chapters)**

**Chapter 23 – On a Day Like Today**

"Ash!" an irate voice shouted. "Stop being lazy and come help prepare lunch!"

"But, Misty, don't you see? I'm not helping, I am actually helping by saving you from the pain that you feel after eating my cooking," he retorted from his seat by the counter.

"Fine," Misty grumbled and continued grating cheese. In the meanwhile, Brock busied about the Pokémon Centre kitchen in his pink apron and Dawn chatted on the videophone to Zoey in the lobby.

"You know what's funny?" Ash mused to his friends. "We haven't seen Team Rocket since August, which was like six months ago."

"It is weird," Brock agreed. "Normally, we couldn't go a week without those bumbling crooks and another of their hapless plans to try and steal Pikachu or some other pokémon."

"I can't believe they've followed you for almost seven years now," Misty added.

"But enough talking," Ash ordered, smirking as his stomach gave yet another loud rumble. "You two need to get on with making my lunch."

And with that, the Indigo Champion left the room wearing a victorious smirk as a furious Misty fumed behind him. She always hated it when he ordered her around.

**~**~**

"Well, this sucks," a red headed woman moaned as she scratched at the wall of her grey cell with a blunt pencil.

"Mars, that's the fifteenth time you've said that in the past hour," a stoic, blue-haired man commented, from the cell opposite.

"That's because it does suck."

"Well, duh," a pink haired woman said dryly from her cell beside Mars'. "We're in prison."

"But it's so damn boring!" Mars complained, serving a well aimed kick to the bars of her cell.

"Well, we've already established that after being here for almost a year," Saturn said calmly.

"Oh, shut up you," Mars retorted, slumping down on her hard bed.

**~**~**

Nika put down the receiver with a sigh. She stood up slowly and left the videophones to go talk to her companions in the dining centre of the Fuchsia City Pokémon Centre.

Round a small table in the corner, Gary, Ritchie, and Riley were sat, each devouring their lunches.

"Who was that?" Riley asked, spraying a mouthful of crumbs across the table.

Nika ignored his bad manners and sat down in the remaining chair. She rested her elbows on the table and leaned forward to rest her chin on her interlaced knuckles.

"Professor Rowan just called," she began. "He had just got out of an important conference in the Pokémon League building."

"What was it about?" Gary asked curiously.

"As you probably already know, every fifteen years, the League hosts an important competition, one where the grand prize is the title of 'Pokémon Master.'"

"The Champions' League," Ritchie said in a slightly awed voice.

"And it's going to be held starting a year in April. The Professor was just ringing to tell me the entrance criteria."

"Which is?" Ritchie prompted.

"Any Elite Four members, all Regional Champions, all Champions of the Regional Leagues, and all Frontier Brains," Nika listed.

"Wait," Riley interrupted. "What's the difference between being a Regional Champion and a champion of a Regional League?"

"I can't believe you still don't know this," Nika sighed.

"A Regional Champion is someone who, after competing and winning their Regional League, challenges that region's Elite Four and wins, like Lance did," Ritchie explained.

"Ahh, so Nika, having won the Sinnoh League is the Champion of the Sinnoh League?"

"Yes."

"But not the Champion of the entirety of Sinnoh?"

"No."

"I see," Riley said, nodding his head slightly.

"Can I finish now?" Nika asked, a little impatiently. Gary nodded for her to continue.

"As I was about to say, there is a condition the League Champions have to pass: they have to have won a League in the past three years but cannot enter if they entered any other League tournament and were beaten."

"So you mean like if you enter this year's Indigo League, you have to win or you won't be qualified to enter?" Ritchie asked.

"But if you entered and won, then that would mean Jasmine wouldn't win, but she needs to win to be inaugurated as an Elite Four and therefore qualify for the League," Riley pointed out.

"Precisely."

"So what are you going to do?" Gary asked.

"I have no idea," Nika answered. "This is my chance at becoming a Master that's on the line here."

**~**~**

"Wow, sounds awesome," Ash breathed in an awed voice.

"So, Ash, are you going to enter?" Professor Oak asked on the other end of the line.

"Of course, I'm going to be a Pokémon Master!"

"Good, then I expect to hear from you more often – you'll need to alternate between all your pokémon to ensure they're at the top of their game."

"Sure, Professor."

"Right, I'll see you, Ash."

Ash placed the receiver back on the hook and leapt from the stool with a cheer. The several trainers occupying the lobby threw him curious glances as he bounded back to the dining room.

"What are you smoking?" Misty asked upon seeing her friend's good mood as he reached their dinner table. He ignored her and sat down, slamming his hands down theatrically to gain Brock and Dawn's full attention also.

"Guess what?" he said excitedly.

"What?" the other three chorused in considerably less enthused voices; Misty was annoyed that he had ignored her, Brock was ogling Nurse Joy after both Croagunk and Misty had foiled all his previous attempts to woo her, and Dawn just didn't feel like being excitable.

"I'm entering the Champions' League!"

"You do realise how much you're going to have to train for that, don't you, Ash?" Brock asked, thinking about the realistic approach to entering such a competition.

"Of course, which is why we're going back to Sinnoh to challenge the Sinnoh Frontier for training!"

**~**~**

Her eye twitched and a low growl was emitted from her throat as she barged through the door and into her small dorm room in the Rocket HQ.

"I can't believe we have to work with those bowl-heads!" she spluttered angrily, lashing a cushion across the room and throwing herself down on the sofa.

"I know, Jess, they're not even fashionable anymore," a purple haired man said in a slightly calmer voice as he flopped down in the armchair.

"An der stupid Glameows and Puruglys dink der all dat!" an irate Meowth fumed as he sat on the cushion which had landed hap-hazardously by the radiator.

"And to think, we'll be serving under that straw-haired cow and her grass-headed moron in an attack on Sinnoh. It's just… argh!" Jessie ranted, pummelling the couch with her gloved fists.

"I know," James added. "Those nincompoops are jus-"

He was cut off by a loud impatient pounding on the door of their room.

Jessie growled, frustrated, as she stood and stomped around the couch. She wrenched the door open with such ferocity, it was a wonder she didn't detach it from its hinges.

"Hello, Jessie," an arrogant blonde greeted, wrinkling her nose slightly.

"I don't want to speak to either you or Botch," she ground out through gritted teeth. She started to close the door but Cassidy held out a foot to stop her. Butch protested against being called the wrong name.

"Oh, shut up, Biff," Cassidy ordered her partner, and ignoring Jessie, stormed into the dormitory.

James groaned as he saw Cassidy, knowing full well this was going to end in disaster. As silently as he could, he stood and started to sidle away. His plan to remain inconspicuous, however, failed as he tripped over his own feet, crashing into the couch.

The three others threw him a curious glance, while Meowth used the distraction as an opportunity to escape the room himself.

Butch and Cassidy then sauntered across to the lounge area and settled into the comfiest chairs as if they owned the place.

"Why are you here?" Jessie demanded, towering over the pair.

"Well, since you're joining us on our little visit to Sinnoh," the blonde started. James rolled his eyes at her ever-present snootiness. "We thought we would inform you of our plans, you see. We're attacking a little island not from Iron Island, and, of course, that is also in the proximity of the infamous Lucario Reserve."

"Are you suggesting," James said languidly, "that we should take some of the Lucario for ourselves?"

"Of course," Cassidy answered, smiling a sickeningly sugared smirk.

"Well, it looks like you're not so stupid after all, Cassidy," Jessie said, smiling wickedly at the thought of having a powerful Lucario to command.

**~**~**

Alex sighed as he leaned back in his seat to observe the blurry green Sinnoh countryside that the train thundered through.

Opposite him, his colleague and friend Cassie Kirk sat, her eyes closed as she listen to her music player. He was glad for this, because he hated talking to people about something unimportant and they had already covered the basic information on each of the family members and the Reserve, so there was nothing else to talk about.

The train was not far from Canalave now, perhaps only about ten minutes more of travelling, then the pair would meet his father at the docks, where the family boat was to take them to the island.

The March sunshine shone through the window warming his pale, stoic face and he remained peacefully reclined for a few moments until the train jolted to an abrupt halt.

The pair sat up sharply and began curiously looking around to see what was going on, much like the other passengers.

The loudspeakers crackled noisily, before a sly female voice sounded throughout the train.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, this is not your captain speaking, this is Team Rocket." There was an audible gasp and a string of whispers.

"And just so you know, if you keep quiet and obey us, we may let you free. If you try and escape or attack us, we will not be nice."

"Now," a different voice, male this time, ordered, "a number of our workers are on this train, so I suggest you hand all your pokémon over without complaint."

Alex stared dumbstruck; it looked like he maybe wasn't going home. But what were Team Rocket doing in Sinnoh?


	23. Bound to Return

**_A/N: I know my updates were supposed to be more fequent but my beta forgot to send this before she went on holiday for a week so I didn't get it until yesterday and I had a sleepover last night. Currently, my family are watching the Grand National, the big horse race in the UK at Aintree Racecourse, which is in Liverpool, so I am using the time to publish this quickly. The rewrite of Chapter 7, now Chapter 5 is also complete, so be sure to go back and read that too! _**

**_Also don't forget to vote in my poll on your favorite Pokémon Rival, currently Gary is winning. _**

**_That's all for now, Princess Tiger. _**

**Chapter 25 – Bound to Return**

"_I'll be gone, in a day or two…!"_ the brunette sang joyfully as she pranced about her shared room in the Oakdale Pokémon Centre.

"You really can't hit that note," her travelling companion, a green-haired man, commented dryly.

"Like you can do any better," May retorted huffily.

"I'll have you know I was a choir boy when I lived in Sinnoh," he answered back cockily.

"Prove it," she challenged.

Drew sighed and stood. He scowled as the next song came on the radio, but nevertheless, began to sing.

"_Take me now, baby, here as I am,_" he sang, his infamous smirk playing on his lips as May's jaw dropped. _"Hold me close, try and understand."_

May scowled, knowing she had lost; Drew was somehow comparable to Patti Smith. Argh, she hated it when he was right, but she had to give it to him, he had the voice of an angel.

"_Desire is hunger, is the fire I breathe, love is the banquet on which we feed. Come on now, try and understand, the way I feel when I'm in your hands. Take my hand, come under cover, they can't hurt you now, can't hurt you now, can't hurt you now. Because the night_-"

"You win," May shouted, successfully cutting him of., "You have the voice of an angel and I sound like a strangled Skitty."

"You don't sound like a strangled Skitty, you're just not as good as me or the guy from A-ha," he told her simply as he sat back down to pull on his black shoes.

"Thanks Drew," she answered dryly.

"Now, we should probably get going, I want to make it to Petalburg before dinner time."

"Good idea," she said, clipping the pokéball she kept under her pillow for safety onto her belt.

"Let's go!" the pair said in unison.

**~**~**

Mars groaned as she slowly opened her eyes. Her head was throbbing – she must have hit it. Her blurry vision slowly focused and she could make out the rough shapes of the room she was in.

In front of her, she could make out the shape of three human figures, two of which appeared to be sleeping. The other was a pink haired woman, watching her with curiosity.

"Where am I?" Mars asked dazedly.

"On an airship, headed for Kanto," she answered, looking as though she was fighting hard to give out minimal information.

"Who are you?" she asked.

"I'm Jessie, and I helped bust you out of prison," the woman answered.

"I'm Mars," Mars said. "Why did you guys knock us out to bust us out of prison?"

"We didn't, you got hit by a guard's tranquilliser dart."

Mars frowned slightly. "All three of us?"

"No, just you - the others are up front talking with the commanders," Jessie said, and Mars noticed a tone of jealous displeasure creep into her tone.

"Oh," Mars said, and turned to look at Jessie's sleeping companions, a blue haired man and a Meowth. Then she turned to look back at Jessie... she had thought she looked familiar.

"Hey, aren't you those Rocket goons who kept messing up for Saturn?"

"We aren't goons!" she defended hotly.

"Alright," Mars retorted.

The pair sat for a little while, in a silence that was only broken by the gentle snores of the Meowth.

"So, why am I here?" Mars asked Jessie.

"I believe the Boss has a proposal for you and the other two," Jessie said, as her tone adopted a slightly mysterious quality.

"I wonder what Giovanni wants with us," Mars mused.

Jessie shrugged and stood.

"Come on," she said, "I'll take you up front so you can see your friends."

Mars nodded, not bothering to correct her, but Jupiter and Saturn were definitely not her friends. She followed Jessie, staying a few paces behind her as they walked down the small corridor. It seemed to be made entirely of a badly polished steel, that seemed to show the mirror images as blurry and distorted. It was completely devoid of any furnishing whatsoever, other than the fluorescent ceiling lights and the small vending machine that Jessie stopped at, about halfway down the corridor.

"Water?" she asked Mars. She nodded, only now noticing how incredibly dry her throat was.

Jessie slid a golden token, with a simple 'R' on it into the machine and pressed several buttons. A 'thud' was heard as a bottle dropped down and Jessie took it out of the bottom compartment and handed it to Mars.

The redhead smiled softly at the kind gesture and gladly took a long drink of the clear liquid.

"Thanks," she said, walking quicker so she was alongside Jessie.

"No problem," she said, brushing off the comment.

"Jessie," Mars began, glancing sideways at her to meet her eye, "I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship."

"Best last line of a movie ever, huh?" Jessie answered with a rare warm smile.

"Yeah," Mars said slightly wistfully, following Jessie through the heavy metal door at the end of the corridor.

**~**~**

"How're your mum and dad?" a slightly shaken Cassie asked as her friend entered the small second-floor lounge in the impressively sized Saturn house.

"They're fine," Alex said simply, handing her a steaming cup of coffee. "Dad did a check and Team Rocket only managed to kidnap three Lucarios, I think it was mainly the shock."

"Yeah," she answered, turning to stare at the gently flickering flames of the fire.

She was glad she and Alex had managed to escape the train, and get to the port unnoticed by Team Rocket. Though she was amazed at how they had been able to do it. But then, no more than five minutes after arriving at the expansive Lucario Reserve, there was a huge explosion in the North-East sector followed by a rather large attack. Cassie was glad no-one was really hurt.

"What are Team Rocket doing in Sinnoh?" Alex asked suddenly, breaking the silence that had formed.

Cassie shrugged. "Maybe it's part of a bigger plan – Lance has become more involved in this whole G-men thing a lot recently, Ma was telling me."

Alex nodded as he processed this. "Maybe they're preparing for something."

Cassie's eyes widened. "The Champions' League!" she exclaimed, making Alex jump.

"Of course," Alex said slowly, a hint of excitement creeping into his stoic demeanour. "If all media attention was focused on that, then Team Rocket would be able to coincide anything they're planning so that it would go virtually unnoticed."

Cassie's magenta eyebrows plunged as she frowned for a moment. "But if the thing they're planning is that big, then wouldn't the media notice anyway?"

"Think about it, Cassie," Alex said, his normally cold blue eyes glistening with anticipation. "If it happened at the same time as the League, but nowhere near Saffron, then not only would Team Rocket be able to pull of whatever they're planning with little media attention, but all the most powerful trainers will be competing and therefore unable to stop them."

Cassie smiled. "They don't call you a genius for nothing."

**~**~**

"Wow," Misty breathed as she admired the view of the expansive island before her. A look of awe graced her features as she turned to face the smiling blue-haired girl who stood beside her on the ship's deck.

"Dawn, Sinnoh is beautiful," she said.

"It is, isn't it?" Dawn answered as she admired the clouded contours of Mount Coronet, the towering centrepiece of the Sinnoh region.

"It's so different from Kanto," Ash added from the other side of Misty.

"Kanto and Johto are warmer," Dawn stated, observing the light tan that had developed on her fair skin while she had been travelling through the two connected regions.

"Not as hot as Hoenn," Ash said.

"The regions are all so different," Misty said, turning to gaze back at the peaks of Mount Coronet, "it's no wonder there are so many different pokémon."

"True, Mist," Ash said, following her gaze. "What are your favourite regions?"

"I'm a home girl at heart, so mine's Kanto," Misty said. "Though Sinnoh looks like it's coming in second - it's definitely the most diverse."

"And I'm a home girl too," Dawn said, "so it's Sinnoh my_ first_."

"What about you, Ash?" Misty asked, tilting her head to look at her dark-haired friend.

"I don't know," he said with a sigh, leaning further forward on the ship's railings. "I love all the regions I've been to, all the different pokémon and friends I've met."

"Come on, Ash, pick one," Dawn encouraged in a slightly teasing tone.

"If I had to pick, I would say Johto. Not quite sure why, but I like it."

The trio lapsed into a companionable silence, until Brock approached them, followed by Pikachu, Piplup and Azumaril, who were all carrying sandwiches for their trainers.

"Lunch!" Ash exclaimed happily.

"And you've just enough time to eat it before we dock in Twinleaf," Brock said as he leant back against the railing, his own sandwich at the ready. "Excited?" he asked Misty, Ash, and Dawn who were now greedily tucking into their sandwiches.

"Yeah!" Ash shouted eagerly, spraying a mouthful of crumbs over the deck and Pikachu.

"Pika-pika," the Electric-type protested, scrabbling at the pieces of food on his clean fur with his paws.

**~**~**

May shrieked as the powerful Shadow Ball passed within millimetres of her face. Drew seized hold of her wrist and pulled her back just in time to save her from another of the swirling purple masses that was launched their way.

"Are you okay?" he asked concernedly.

May nodded dumbly as she enlarged a pokéball, ready to fend off the three crooks' Mightyena. Just as she raised her hand to throw it and unleash her powerful Blaziken's wrath upon the unsuspecting Dark-types, Drew's hand shot out and caught her wrist.

"May, let me handle this," he said with his ever-present air of almost unshakable calmness. May scowled slightly, she found it irritating that even after travelling with him for almost two years, he still didn't seem to respect her ability in battling quite as much as she had thought. Wrenching her hand from his grasp, she launched the pokéball in the direction of the Mightyena with a defiant cry of,

"Fire Spin!"

Just as the pokéball opened, a vicious torrent of fire streamed out of its depths and encircled the Mightyena, inducing a howl of agony from the three Bite Pokémon.

"Roserade, go!" Drew shouted, releasing his oldest companion with a habitual flourish at the exact same moment that Blaziken came hurtling from his ball, gathering an impressive amount of speed as he tore across the grassy path, his claws glowing light blue from the friction they were garnering as he dragged them across the floor.

Before the central Mightyena could react, Blaziken swung his arms up and leapt into the air with enough force to carry the large pokémon with him.

"Shadow Ball!" two of the red-hood figures commanded and the two Mightyena on the ground began charging up their powerful balls of swirling purple energy.

"Solar Beam!" Drew ordered quickly, taking advantage of the sunny Hoenn weather. Roserade raised both her coloured rose bouquets and began to collect bright white solar energy in a ball above her head.

May glanced at Drew briefly and he nodded.

"Now!"

Upon their trainers' signal, Roserade released the energy in a bright white beam a split second before the Mightyena launched their Shadow Balls in Blaziken's direction. At the same instant, Blaziken flung the Mightyena he had carried into the air with him towards the ground so it collided with the Shadow Balls, the Solar Beam and its two other team mates in a magnificent explosion that seemed to echo on the empty Route 102.

With a swift somersault, Blaziken landed beside Roserade and let out a victorious cry.

"We'll get you next time," one of the figures snarled with a warning as he and his two team mates returned their defeated Mightyena.

"Mark my word," he added viciously from over his shoulder as they quickly retreated into the bushes.

May let out a sigh of relief as she returned Blaziken in a flash of red light.

"I don't understand," she said as she looked at the patch of bushes their attackers had vanished into.

"What?" asked Drew.

"I thought they disbanded," she told him, her light brown eyebrows plunging as she frowned.

"Who?" he asked, mimicking her action and frowning slightly as he returned his Grass-type.

"Team Magma."


End file.
